People with Alzheimer’s who take a high dose of omega-3 fish oil without any extra antioxidants don’t see as much improvement in memory or thinking as those who take the same fish oil along with a special antioxidant called alpha-lipoic acid.

48

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

48

Community contributions welcome

48

Efficacy and acceptability of anti-inflammatory eicosapentaenoic acid for cognitive function in Alzheimer's dementia: a network meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials with omega-3 fatty acids and FDA-approved pharmacotherapy.

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2023 Jul

This study found that taking EPA omega-3s along with antioxidants helped Alzheimer’s patients think better than taking EPA alone or other treatments — suggesting antioxidants make EPA work better for the brain.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Efficacy and acceptability of anti-inflammatory eicosapentaenoic acid for cognitive function in Alzheimer's dementia: a network meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials with omega-3 fatty acids and FDA-approved pharmacotherapy.

Score: 48

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.04.017

Similar Assertions

Taking a high dose of a specific fish oil supplement combined with another antioxidant pill every day for a long time may greatly help people with Alzheimer’s disease think more clearly, better than other treatments or no treatment at all.

48

0

90%

Taking omega-3 supplements, even those high in EPA, is just as safe and easy to tolerate as taking a sugar pill for people with Alzheimer’s, and doesn’t cause more people to quit or have bad side effects than the placebo.

48

0

82%

Taking omega-3 supplements every day for six months doesn’t seem to help people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s think better, no matter what their blood homocysteine levels were to begin with.

55

0

79%

When older adults with memory problems eat more omega-3 fats from fish or supplements, their bodies show less of a type of cell damage linked to aging and brain decline.

38

0

78%

For people with early-stage Alzheimer’s, taking a specific fish oil supplement for 6 months might help them think a little better and function more normally—but only if their blood has low levels of a chemical called homocysteine before they start.

55

0

76%