Alpha lipoic acid (ALA), an antioxidant that helps produce energy in every human cell, slowed Alzheimer’s disease (AD) more effectively than AD drugs, in a new study. In an earlier phase of this study, nine participants with AD who were taking a standard treatment of choline-esterase inhibitors (CEI) also took 600 mg of ALA per day. After 12 months, researchers found that mental decline had stopped. In the current phase of this study, researchers included 43 participants who took ALA for up to 48 months and found that symptoms in those with mild AD progressed extremely slowly. In those with moderate AD, symptoms progressed twice as fast as in mild AD, but doctors noted that the rate of decline for those taking ALA was dramatically lower than the rate of decline in a concurrent study of AD sufferers who were not being treated or who were taking CEI.

Reference: Journal of Neural Transmission Supplement: 2007; Vol. 72, 189-93.

Tags: ALA, Alzheimer's disease

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