Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive and fatal brain disorder, is presently the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. As the population of older people worldwide continues to increase, Alzheimer’s has become an urgent healthcare problem, and the focus of a great deal of scientific research. Among recent discoveries that may have a bearing on Alzheimer’s disease, the red wine ingredient resveratrol seems to show a good deal of promise.
Resveratrol is an antioxidant plant chemical found in the skin and seeds of red, purple, and black grapes, as well as in some dark-colored berries, pomegranates, and peanuts. In the production of red wine, the skins, juice, and pulp of dark-colored grapes spend time fermenting together. The color, flavor, and tannins and the resveratrol content of red wines are due to the skins.
As far back as 1996, studies were suggesting that resveratrol and Alzheimer’s had a connection. Tests on mice showed that moderate consumption of red wine had a significantly positive effect on cognitive deterioration, and on AD-type conditions of the nervous system. Specifically, the red wine ingredient resveratrol was identified as exerting a beneficial effect.
This study, and others following it, that demonstrated resveratrol’s neuroprotective power caught the attention in 2005 of research scientist Philippe Marambaud, Ph.D. Marambaud’s team at New York’s Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders tested resveratrol and several other antioxidants against beta-amyloid. Beta-amyloid is a peptide that has been found to cause the plaques in the brain that are characteristic of AD. Marambaud reported that resveratrol’s neuroprotective power did not stop the production of beta-amyloid, but it did stimulate its breakdown. Of all the antioxidants tested against beta-amyloid, only resveratrol had this effect. Such destruction of beta-amyloid could be a useful mechanism for therapy against Alzheimer’s disease, according to Marambaud.
It is important to note that only red wine not liquor, beer, or other alcoholic products shows the link between resveratrol and Alzheimer’s. Other alcoholic beverages do not contain grapes, and so do not contain resveratrol. A Canadian study in 2002 determined that the risk of AD could be reduced by as much as 50% by moderate wine consumption. In this study and in this population, wine intake was found to be even more protective than the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Although more clinical studies will be required to clearly show that the red wine ingredient resveratrol may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (still a controversial idea), resveratrol’s neuroprotective power continues to be borne out by recent scientific investigation.
Recent research strongly supports the idea that for many diseases associated with aging, such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease resveratrol may have the potential to slow or stop disease progression. It also offers the possibility for developing powerful synthetic analogs drugs based on resveratrol, and possessing resveratrol’s neuroprotective power, which may provide us in the near future with a way to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.