Key result
Self-reported omega-3 supplement use significantly moderated the association between age and exercising middle cerebral artery velocity (p=0.01), with no age-related decline observed in users.
Why the study?
Cerebral blood flow decreases across the lifespan and with chronic conditions, creating a need to identify lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise to maintain it.
Does self-reported omega-3 supplement use prevent age-related decline in exercising cerebral blood flow velocity in sedentary, cognitively-normal older adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=90)
Does self-reported omega-3 supplement use prevent age-related decline in exercising cerebral blood flow velocity in sedentary, cognitively-normal older adults?
p-value: p=0.01
Self-reported omega-3 supplementation is associated with preserved exercising cerebral blood flow velocity across older ages, suggesting a potential role in maintaining cerebrovascular health.
Should not yet inform practice in older adults; hypothesis-generating for a protective role of omega-3 supplements against age-related cerebrovascular decline.
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 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 Sedentary, cognitively-normal older adults (n=90). Self-reported omega-3 supplement use vs. No omega-3 supplement use was evaluated on Middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) during moderate-intensity exercise (p=0.01). Self-reported omega-3 supplement use significantly moderated the association between age and exercising middle cerebral artery velocity (p=0.01), with no age-related decline observed in users.
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