Study: Green tea may help in dementia

Findings from University of Sri Jayewardenepura suggests possible protective effects of Ceylon black tea and green-yellow vegetables in dementia-related neuropathologies  
Dementia in old age is a growing healthcare challenge worldwide, the mental and behavioural changes happen so gradually in a sufferer, you’re left to watch your loved one slowly deteriorate before your eyes and you grieve every time they take a turn for the worst, gradually get worse until eventually ….. can’t even remember their own names.

 One new case of dementia is diagnosed every four seconds around the world. That tells you the sheer scope of this brutal disorder and how many lives are being affected. Estimation of the number of people with dementia is 46.8 million worldwide in 2015, 74.7 in 2030, 131.5 million in 2050, the annual cost for dementia is US$ 818 billion in 2015 worldwide, it is estimated to be 1 trillion US$ by 2018 and 2 trillion US$ by 2030, will be the 18th largest economy of the world exceeding market values of APPLE and GOOGLE. 

ementia is thought of as a scourge of the developed world, with its aging population, but it actually may occur at an even higher rate in developing countries (Low and middle- income countries), and a shift in these countries’ populations toward aging, combined with low education and undercounting, is blamed for the finding.
With no known curative measures for the devastating diseases Prof. Ranil de Silva, the Director, Interdisciplinary Centre for Innovation in Biotechnology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Medical Sciences , University of Sri Jayewardenepura with a team of  local and international ( India, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea) doctors investigated  aging brain samples from Sri Lanka (Colombo) and India (Bangalore),  being the first direct comparative study between Sri Lankan and India and the first ever brain autopsy study undertaken in South Asia that was intended to explore the vascular risk factors and cerebrovascular pathologies associated with Alzheimer’s disease  (AD) related neuropathological changes, since identification of such factors and pathologies may offer new insights into diagnosis and/or early intervention. 

The work was a result of the PhD thesis of Dr. Printha Wijesinghe under the supervision of Prof. Ranil de Silva, published in 2016 in prestigious international journals: Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, is ranked 68th out of 256 journals in Neurosciences and Current Alzheimer Research, is ranked as the 34th of 192 in Clinical Neurology and 69th of 256 in Neurosciences.
These findings indicate that the burden of AD-related neuropathology in India and Sri Lanka was similar to that of the West, which is at variance with expected lower AD-related lesion burden based on the clinical/epidemiological studies suggesting lower prevalence of AD in these countries. 

The study highlighted the possible protective effects of frequent consumption of pure black tea and moderate consumption of green-yellow vegetables in dementia-related neuropathological changes, thus diet could play a role towards healthy brain ageing. 
Study further confirms the strong contribution of hypertension and diabetes in stroke and strong association of cerebral small vessel lesions in AD-related neuropathological changes. 
Oxidative stress might be an important contributor to  cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), a major contributor to stroke, and a leading cause of cognitive impairment and dementia, targeting oxidative stress  as a therapeutic strategy in prevention and treatment of cerebral SVD is relatively new, experimental studies in using natural anti-oxidants e.g. polyphenol anti-oxidant, catechin (From green tea) are promising. 
Thus our comprehensive autopsy study  provide evidence that natural products are neuroprotectors, lay a stepping stone in  developing  nutraceuticals based industry in Sri Lanka, a great opportunity  on unique regional natural products as neuroprotectors in healthy brain ageing.

Within South Asia, Sri Lanka is continually experiencing fastest ageing and one-fourth of the population will be aged over 60 years in next few decades, thus demographically ageing population will place an additional strain on the Sri Lankan economy and health sector. 
More important in the light of the study findings, control of vascular risk factors (e.g., hypertension, and diabetes) are important primary and secondary preventative strategy for cerebral SVD and dementia, in order to reduce both the social and economic burden of the disease as our population ages.

Delaying of onset, by modifying risk or lifestyle, decreases the prevalence and public health burden of dementia; a delay in onset of 1 year would translate to almost a million fewer prevalent cases in the USA. Therefore, a successful strategy to promote healthy brain aging is of great interest to public health efforts and to the Sri Lankan economy.
Diet and the many bioactive substances present in food represent a novel target for interventions that may promote healthy brain aging. Recent innovations in nutritional cognitive neuroscience hold promise for addressing the problems posed by a rapidly changing demographic landscape. 

Optimal nutrition may serve as a potential avenue to preserve cognitive function, slowing the progression of aging and reducing the incidence of debilitating diseases in healthy aging populations.