Original title: Effect of Probiotic Supplementation on Cognitive Function and Metabolic Status in Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blind and Controlled Trial
Researchers gave people with Alzheimer’s either plain milk or milk with four kinds of live bacteria for 12 weeks. They measured memory and thinking with a test called the MMSEA test that checks thinking skills such as memory and attention., and checked blood markers before and after. The probiotic group’s test scores improved compared with the control group, and several blood measures also changed. Other measured markers did not show a considerable effect.
Imagine tasting soup while you cook it. You make one change, then check whether the flavor shifts, but one taste cannot tell you everything about the meal. In this paper, the probiotic milk is the change, and the thinking test and blood checks are the ways of seeing what shifted; some measures changed, while others did not.
People with Alzheimer’s disease can have both memory problems and metabolic changes. In this small trial, a daily probiotic milk drink was linked to better scores on a thinking test and changes in some blood markers, though it did not affect every marker measured.
The abstract describes 60 patients followed for 12 weeks, so it does not establish whether the reported changes last longer or apply beyond the patients studied. It also reports no considerable effect on several measured markers, including fasting plasma glucose and other lipid profiles.
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Effect of Probiotic Supplementation on Cognitive Function and Metabolic Status in Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blind and Controlled Trial — Elmira Akbari, Zatollah Asemi, Reza Daneshvar Kakhaki et al. — Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience — doi:10.3389/fnagi.2016.00256
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.