Grape seed can prevent Alzheimers

Sydney IANS: Grape seeds have been found to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Using a mouse model, a team of researchers headed by Xin-Fu Zhou of Flinders University, has found that adding grape seed extract to the diet prevent the formation of deposits of amyloid proteins in the brain.

Zhou said that over-production of amyloid-beta proteins, or the body's failure to degrade them, leads to the formation of clumps or snarls in the brain and is a major cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Many fruits and vegetables contain polyphenols - complex molecules with anti-oxidant properties - and some have been identified by scientists as a possible method for reducing amyloid deposition, according to a Flinders release.


Grape seed extract was fed to mice affected by transgenic Alzheimer's for six months, after which the researchers observed their behaviour and brain pathology, comparing them with a control group.