Green tea component may fight Alzheimer's

An ingredient in green tea that researchers think might fight cancer may also protect the brain from the memory-destroying Alzheimer's disease, a study released on Tuesday said.

Scientists injected mice with an antioxidant from green tea called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and said it decreased production of beta-amyloid, a protein that forms the plaques that clog the brains of Alzheimer's victims.

Several months of injections reduced plaque formation by as much as 54 percent, researchers from the University of South Florida wrote in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The mice had been genetically programmed to develop an Alzheimer's-like disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), one form of dementia, is a progressive, degenerative brain disease. It impairs memory, thinking, and behavior.

Memory impairment is a necessary feature for the diagnosis of this or any type of dementia. Change in one of the following areas must also be present: language, decision-making ability, judgment, attention, and other areas of mental function and personality

Alzheimer's is a progressive disorder that causes memory loss and afflicts an estimated 4.5 million people in the United States and millions more globally.

Drinking ordinary green tea may not lead to the same plaque reduction seen in the study because other ingredients in the beverage appear to block EGCG's benefits, said Dr. Jun Tan, the study's senior author and director of the neuroimmunology laboratory at the Silver Child Development Center in the University of South Florida's psychiatry department.

Supplement pills containing EGCG might help, he said. Scientists are also trying to develop a tea with a high concentration of EGCG that could offer health benefits.

As many as 4 million Americans currently have AD. The older you get, the greater your risk of developing AD, although it is not a part of normal aging. Family history is another common risk factor.

In addition to age and family history, risk factors for AD may include:

• Longstanding High blood pressure
  
• History of head trauma
  
• High levels of homocysteine (a body chemical that contributes to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, Depression, and possibly AD)
  
• Female gender - because women usually live longer than men, they are more likely to develop AD

Other studies have shown EGCG may prevent certain cancers and could block the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Humans would probably need 1,500 to 1,600 milligrams per day of EGCG to get the amount that helped mice in the Alzheimer's study, Tan said.