Key result
Self-reported omega-3 use linked to preventing age-related decline in exercising middle cerebral artery velocity.
Why the study?
Cerebral blood flow decreases with aging and chronic conditions, prompting the need to identify lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise to maintain it.
Does self-reported omega-3 supplement use improve exercising cerebral blood flow velocity in sedentary, cognitively normal older adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=90)
Does self-reported omega-3 supplement use improve exercising cerebral blood flow velocity in sedentary, cognitively normal older adults?
p-value: p=0.01
Self-reported omega-3 supplement use is associated with the preservation of exercising cerebral blood flow velocity across advancing age in sedentary older adults.
Supports further investigation of omega-3 use for age-related cerebral flow preservation; should not yet change clinical practice.
Cerebral blood flow (CBF) decreases across the lifespan, and chronic conditions such as dementia and stroke accelerate this decline. Impaired CBF results in reduced delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which can damage the brain over time. Thus, there is a need to identify lifestyle interventions, including diet and exercise, to maintain CBF with aging and in the presence of chronic disease. In the present study, we used transcranial Doppler ultrasound to record middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv), a surrogate measure of CBF, during moderate-intensity exercise in sedentary, cognitively normal older adults (n = 90). A multiple linear regression model (F(4, 85) = 3.21, p = 0.02) showed that self-reported omega-3 supplement use significantly moderated the association between age and mean exercising MCAv in these individuals (p = 0.01). Older age was associated with lower exercising MCAv in the group not taking omega-3 supplements, while exercising MCAv showed no decline with increasing age in the group who reported omega-3 supplement use. These findings suggest omega-3 supplementation may have an important role in the preservation of CBF with aging.
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Kaufman et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional in Cognitively normal older adults (n=90). Self-reported omega-3 supplement use vs. No omega-3 supplement use was evaluated on Mean exercising middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) (p=0.01). Self-reported omega-3 supplement use prevented the age-related decline in exercising middle cerebral artery velocity observed in non-users (p=0.01).
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