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The Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw®
Life Extension NewsTM
Volume 13 No.
3 • June 2010
What a glorious morning this is!
— Samuel Adams, to John Hancock at the
Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, 1775
Advertisements ... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.
— Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1819. Memorial Edition 15:179
Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters, heading the 1st, Truths, 2nd, Probabilities, 3rd, Possibilities, 4th, Lies. The first chapter would be very short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers and information from such sources as the editor would be willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The second would contain what, from a mature consideration of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be probably true. This, however, should rather contain too little than too much. The third and fourth should be professedly for those readers who would rather have lies for their money than the blank paper they would occupy.
— Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 1807.
Memorial Edition 11:225
Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.
— Adam Smith, 1776
D&S Comment:
But be careful what you call science.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Fish Oil and EGCG Act Synergistically
To Inhibit Cerebral Amyloid Beta Deposits
A 2010 paper reports that in a mouse (Tg2576) model of Alzheimer’s disease, oral co-treatment with fish oil (8 mg/kg/day) and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate, 62.5 mg/kg/day or 12.5 mg/kg/day) at 8 months of age for 6 months enhanced the production of soluble amyloid precursor protein (sAPP) that is produced via the non-amyloidogenic pathway where APP is cleaved by alpha secretase. The non-amyloidogenic pathway prevents the generation of amyloid beta and, therefore, is protective against Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
 To produce the EGCG-enriched mouse food, 20 mg (low dose) or 100 mg (high dose) of the >97% EGCG was mixed with 400 g chow. (Mice eat about 5 g of food a day, while humans eat about 500 g of food a day.) 12.8 mg of fish oil was added to 400 g of the chow containing the added EGCG as described in the paper. The result was that each mouse ingested 0.25 mg of fish oil plus 1.875 mg of EGCG (high dose) or 0.25 mg of fish oil plus 0.375 mg of EGCG (low dose).
The low oral dose of EGCG alone (12.5 mg/kg/day) does not itself reduce amyloid beta deposits. However, in the mice treated with this dose of EGCG plus the fish oil, there was a marked reduction of amyloid beta deposits. The researchers found significantly elevated plasma and brain levels of free EGCG in mice co-treated with fish oil, “suggesting a mechanism of increased bioavailability conferred by the addition of fish oil to EGCG.” The authors further conclude that “moderate supplementation with EGCG and fish oil [have] significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of AD.” (Notice, they suggest TREATMENT of AD, not just risk reduction. The FDA forbids — in violation of the First Amendment — mention of any treatment effect for a dietary supplement in an ad or on a label, as that converts it magically into an unapproved new drug.)
- Giunta et al. Fish oil enhances anti-amyloidogenic properties of green tea EGCG in Tg2576 mice. Neurosci Lett 8(471):134-8 (2010).
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