The impact of dietary omega-3 fatty acids and omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio on cognitive decline in the healthy aging in neighborhoods of diversity across the lifespan (HANDLS) study sample
Date
2017
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Background. Growing evidence suggests an association between decreased dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and increased risk for cognitive impairment and cognitive decline. Since the metabolic pathways of omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids are mutually competitive, with chiefly antagonistic physiological effects, the ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids may be a better indicator of essential fatty acid status than absolute levels. ☐ Objective. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of absolute n-3 fatty acid and relative n-3 to n-6 fatty acid intakes with cognitive decline in an urban biracial population of ages 30-64 years. ☐ Methods. Our study is a prospective longitudinal examination of the relationship of baseline absolute n-3 fatty acid and relative n-3/n-6 dietary intakes with cognitive change between Wave 1 and Wave 3 measured by eleven neuropsychological tests over multiple domains. This study is a secondary analysis of the HANDLS database among those participants (n= 1543) who had a baseline Mini-Mental State Examination total score and two baseline 24-hour dietary recalls. ☐ Results. No relationship was observed between absolute n-3 or n-3/n-6 ratios of fatty acid intakes and cognitive decline in this sample, except for the ratio of n-3 PUFA/n-6 PUFA, which showed a significant negative relationship with Mini-Mental State Examination score rate of cognitive change. ☐ Conclusion. Only one of the relationships tested using the 4 dietary predictors for the 11 cognitive outcomes, was significant. Due to only finding one predictor significant for one outcome, it is likely a type-I error.
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Keywords
Psychology, Health and environmental sciences, Biracial, Cognitive change, Omega-3 fatty acids, Omega-6 fatty acids, Ratio, Urban