Eating foods in ?-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from vegetable and marine sources may help reduce the risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the fatal neurodegenerative disease commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Kathryn C. Fitzgerald, M.Sc., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues said that overall, the results of their large prospective cohort study suggested that individuals with higher dietary intakes of total ?-3 PUFA and ALA had a reduced risk for ALS.
Fitzgerald said that further research, possibly including biomarkers of PUFA intake, should be pursued to confirm these findings and to determine whether high ?-3 PUFA intake could be beneficial in individuals with ALS.
Fitzgerald added that the fatty acid composition of cell plasma membranes, which could be measured in red cell membranes, might be important in modulating oxidative stress responses, excitotoxicity and inflammation, all factors that had been implicated in ALS and other neurodegenerative conditions.
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