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In the news: Grape & Blueberry Target Cognitive Decline
Review: Systemic Drugs & Glaucoma Risk

Synergy of Grape, Blueberry in Memory Decline

According to United Nations projections, the world’s elderly population will reach an estimated 2 billion by the year 2050. Since aging is often accompanied by a decline in mental abilities, developing strategies to prevent, delay or slow down age-related cognitive decline is becoming critical.

Long term intake of berries and flavonoids have been linked to slower rates of cognitive decline and better cognitive function in the elderly. Preclinical and clinical studies have largely confirmed these observations.

In new research, French and Canadian investigators drew from previous studies and their own work to design a study testing whether an extract combining grape and blueberry polyphenols would affect cognition in older men and women (1,2). Previous animal research by the team showed a synergistic effect of the fruit, with grape extract enhancing the absorption of the polyphenols in the blueberry extract.

In the 6-month long trial, 215 healthy men and women aged 60-70, were randomly assigned to a polyphenol-rich grape-blueberry extract (providing 258 mg of flavonoids daily) or placebo.

The primary outcome was change from baseline in tests of visuospatial learning and episodic memory. Additional tests assessed changes in episodic verbal memory, recognition memory and working memory.

After 6 months, the investigators saw no difference between the groups in performance on the primary outcome testing, although the fruit extract improved verbal recall overall.

When the participants were divided into groups based on their initial test performances, significant improvement in episodic memory was seen in the fruit extract group with greatest memory decline at baseline. Episodic memory is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place.

The authors concluded that the fruit extract improves age-related episodic memory decline in those with the highest cognitive impairment – a group they called “decliners”.

In the “decliners” group, cognitive age estimated from baseline tests improved by almost 14 years in the fruit extract group vs. about 5 ½ years in the placebo group. According to the authors, the nutritional intervention appears to rejuvenate the decliners’ memory to the normal cognitive age for their age group (60-70 years)

The authors state that their results emphasize the need to develop and define a recommended daily allowance for flavonoids. This is echoed by many in the nutrition field, as polyphenol-rich foods have been shown to have protective effects against risk of many chronic diseases.

Meds that May Affect Glaucoma Risk

A review published in the Nature journal Eye, provides a summary of reported associations between different systemic medications and the risk of developing glaucoma or experiencing disease progression (3).

Medication classes covered in the review that are known to or may modulate the risk of open-angle glaucoma include corticosteroids, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, metformin, statins, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, bupropion, post-menopausal hormones, and cannabinoids.

Medication classes addressed in the review that may increase the risk of angle closure glaucoma include anticholinergics, adrenergic agonists, certain classes of antidepressants, sulfonamides, and topiramate.

References

1. Bensalem J, et al. Polyphenols from grape and blue-berry improve episodic memory in healthy elderly with lower level of memory performance: A bicentric double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J of Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 74:996-1007, 2019.
2. Voelker R. Food for Thought: How certain foods affect cognition, seizures, and cardiometabolic disease. JAMA published online Oct. 24, 2019.
3. Wu A, et al. A review of systemic medications that may modulate the risk of glaucoma. Eye. Pubished Oct. 8, 2019.