Cocoa 'might prevent memory decline'

Drinking cocoa every day may help older
people keep their brains healthy, research
suggests.
A study of 60 elderly people with no dementia
found two cups of cocoa a day improved blood
flow to the brain in those who had problems to
start with.
Those participants whose blood flow improved
also did better on memory tests at the end of
the study, the journal Neurology reported.
Experts said more research was needed before
conclusions could be drawn.
It is not the first time cocoa has been linked
with vascular health and researchers believe
that this is in part due to it being rich in
flavanols, which are thought to have an
important role.
In the latest study, researchers asked 60
people with an average age of 73 to drink two
cups of cocoa a day - one group given high-
flavanol cocoa and another a low-flavanol
cocoa - and consume no other chocolate.
Blood flow
Ultrasound tests at the start of the study
showed 17 of them had impaired blood flow to
the brain.
There was no difference between those who
drank flavanol-rich cocoa and those who had
flavanol-poor cocoa.
But whichever drink they were given, 88% of
those with impaired blood flow at the start of
the study saw improvements in blood flow and
some cognitive tests, compared with 37% of
people whose blood flow was normal at the
beginning of the study.
MRI scans in 24 participants found that people
with impaired blood flow were also more likely
to have tiny areas of brain damage.
"We're learning more about blood flow in the
brain and its effect on thinking skills," said
study author Dr Farzaneh Sorond a neurologist
at Harvard Medical School.
"As different areas of the brain need more
energy to complete their tasks, they also need
greater blood flow. This relationship, called
neurovascular coupling, may play an important
role in diseases such as Alzheimer's."
The researchers said the lack of difference
between the flavanol-rich and flavanol-poor
cocoa could be because another component of
the drink was having an effect or because only
small amounts were needed.
Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at
Alzheimer's Research UK, said this was a small
study but that it added to a wealth of
evidence.
"A cocoa-based treatment would likely be very
popular, but it's too soon to draw any
conclusions about its effects.
"One drawback of this study is the lack of a
control group for comparison, and we can't
tell whether the results would have been
different if the participants drank no cocoa at
all."
But he added: "Poor vascular health is a
known risk factor for dementia, and
understanding more about the links between
vascular problems and declining brain health
could help the search for new treatments and
preventions."