Gold Standard Study Finds Fish Oils 'Don't Ward Off Dementia'

Researchers have stated that taking fish-oil supplements to ward off dementia could be a waste of time.

Studying the best evidence available the Cochrane Review team found that supplements containing omega-3 offered no greater protection than dummy pills.

The three large studies in the review, which appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, involved over 3,500 people.

But experts say longer-term studies are needed for more conclusive results.

The current work tracked the health of individuals over a period of three-and-a-half years, so it is still unclear whether there might be some brain protection that kicks in if supplements are taken for much longer than this.

The work looked at randomised controlled trials - the "gold standard" test scientists use to check whether a treatment works.

Co-author Dr Alan Dangour, a nutritionist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "From these studies, there doesn't appear to be any benefit for cognitive health for older people of taking omega-3 supplements.

"So the evidence at the moment is very disappointing. But there's still an open question - if we conducted a longer study, what would that show?"

He added: "Fish is an important part of a healthy diet and we would still support the recommendation to eat two portions a week, including one portion of oily fish."

(H)