A Medical Food Helps Early Alzheimer Patients’ Memories

The January issue of the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia contains a report of a ‘proof- of-concept’ study of a food supplement in Alzheimer’s patients.  It’s sure to arouse interest and enthusiasm for further in-depth studies.

The study was done at 5 centers in Europe and the USA, with 225 patients randomly assigned to take the supplement, Souvenaid®, or a placebo drink.  The subjects had Mini Mental State Examination scores between 20 and 26; i.e. they had mild Alzheimer’s disease.

Souvenaid contains three phosphatide precursors – the nucleotide uridine, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and choline – that are used in the formation of synaptic membranes in the brain.  The study subjects took one drink (Souvenaid or placebo) once daily for 12 weeks.  The Verbal Recall Task – part of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test - and the modified Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) were used to measure changes with treatment.

After 12 weeks there was modest but significant significant improvement in the Verbal Recall Test in the Souvenaid group, compared with those taking the placebo drink.  However, there was no change in the ADAS in either group. The supplement was well tolerated, and the adverse events noted were similar for Souvenaid and the placebo drink..      

The researchers claim that this result is sufficiently encouraging to justify further clinical trials.  Indeed, 3 large studies are under way in the USA and Europe. It’s disappointing that only the memory test was found to be improved by the 12-week treatment, but after all, memory is one of the first things to be affected in Alzheimer’s disease. A simple ‘milk shake’ approach to slowing or preventing this would be a small but significant step forward.