Eef Hogervorst, a professor at Loughborough University, recently headed a study on the issue that will be published in Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders in January. Funding for the study came from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. and allowed researchers to work with colleagues in Indonesia.

Scientists studied the eating habits of 719 advanced-age citizens of Java living in both rural and city setting. The results indicated that for those 68 years old and older, deterioration of memory is linked to eating high tofu in high quantities.

Hogervorst pointed out that products made with soy are micronutrient-rich, but that the effects of these micronutrients – commonly called phytoestrogens – are not clear.

Oddly, better memory seemed linked with high consumption of a product made from fermented soy products called tempe. Hogervorst postulated that the positive side effects of tempe could be tied to the fact that the product has a high level of folate, known to lessen the risk of dementia.

Hogervorst advocates additional research to better understand how the product or a combination of it with other products can reduce the effects of memory loss in the elderly.

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“Doctors should pay close attention when following these patients, as their observations could help define the precursors of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, or multiple system atrophy,” said Dr. Jacques Montplaisir of the University of Montreal and Montreal’s Sacre-Cour Hospital, who was the lead researcher on the study.

Montplaisir worked with Dr. Rondald Postuma from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center.

While strides are being made in diagnosing such ailments before their advanced stages, there is still insufficient data concerning early warning signs, the study’s proponents said. The study showed that patients included in the research who had REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep disorders had a 52.4 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within 12 years.

Their findings have been published in the Neurology, which is the official publication of the American Academy of Neurology.

Other results of the study include that patients with REM sleep disorder have a 17.7 percent chance of developing a neurodegenerative disease within five years of diagnosis and a 40.6 per cent in 10 years.

“These results establish a clear link and indicate that these sleep disorders could be a predictor of neurodegenerative disease,” Postuma said.

The study included 93 subjects. And while treatments exist for REM sleep disorders, those medications don’t delay onset of neurodegenerative disease, the study said.

Image: Memorial Regional South Hospital

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