A new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York (USA), has concluded that a cocoa extract called “wash” could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease by reducing damage to the nerve pathways in the brain before symptoms appear.
For the research, the experts used genetically modified laboratory mice to mimic the disease and analyzed the effects of ‘Dutched’ cocoa extracts , treated with an alkalizing agent to modify its color and soften its flavor; Natural and Washed , which contain different levels of polyphenols. The researchers evaluated each type of cocoa for its ability to reduce the formation of beta-amyloid oligomers, that is, the sticky clumps of the brain that damage nerve cells as Alzheimer’s disease also evolves its ability to rescue function synaptic, since its loss has a more important role in memory impairment than the loss of nerve cells itself.
Thus, of the three types of cocoa, washed cocoa , the one with the highest level of polyphenols and the highest inflammatory activity, turned out to be the most effective in reducing the formation of beta-amyloid oligomers in mice , thus confirming , be a means of prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our data suggest that Washed cocoa extract prevents abnormal beta-amyloid formation in clustered oligomeric structures, preventing synaptic offensive and ultimately cognitive decline. Considering that cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease is believed to begins decades before symptoms appear, we believe that our results have broad implications for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, “says Giulio Maria Pasinetti, leader of the study.
The study has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease .
