Diet during pregnancy could affect a later risk to dementia
Diet during pregnancy could affect a baby’s risk of brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, new research has shown.
The study is to be presented at the Alzheimer’s Research UK conference in Oxford’s Saïd Business School today.
Researchers from the University of Southampton were investigating the links between obesity and Alzheimer’s.
They found that mice whose mothers ate a high-fat diet during pregnancy were more likely to have vascular changes in their brains later in life.
And when the offspring of mothers with a high-fat diet were also fed a high-fat diet, their brains’ blood vessels became less efficient at clearing the protein amyloid – a big feature of the disease.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here