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Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
Vitamin may help those with Alzheimer's disease
Vitamin B3 may boost memory in Alzheimer's patients and even in younger people.
A vitamin found in meat, fish and potatoes may help protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease - and even boost memory in healthy people.
US researchers found vitamin B3 lowered levels of a protein linked to Alzheimer's damage in mice. The Journal of Neuroscience study also showed the animals performed better at memory tests.
The researchers, from the University of California at Irvine, added the vitamin to drinking water given to mice bred to develop a version of Alzheimer's disease, then tested the levels of certain chemicals associated with the condition.
They found that levels of one, called phosphorylated tau, were significantly lower in the animals.
This protein is involved in abnormal 'deposits' in brain cells, called 'tangles', which contribute to the brain damage which progressively affects people with Alzheimer's.
Using 'water mazes', the team also found some evidence that memory was enhanced in both 'Alzheimer's' mice and unaffected mice.
