Tokyo doctors think they found a way to prevent Alzheimer's

Scientists have isolated plasmalogen as a potential key.
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TOKYO -- Alzheimer's disease could be prevented by plasmalogen, contained in seafood such as the sea squirt, a team of researchers at Tohoku University has discovered.
Since the effect was proved in animal experiments, a company set up by the head of the group plans to market tablets containing plasmalogen as early as next year.
Alzheimer's disease causes severe memory loss and is thought to be caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain.
The team led by Prof. Teruo Miyazawa, who specializes in food chemistry at the Graduate School of Agricultural Science at the university, experimented with cell cultures and discovered that plasmalogen prevents the death of nerve cells.
It had already been known that plasmalogen in the brains of those with Alzheimer's decreases by about 30 percent, but its function had not been clarified.
Miyazawa fed plasmalogen to rats with Alzheimer's disease and had them search for food in a maze. The experiment, showed that the rats' declining memory ability and learning could be prevented.
Plasmalogen is contained in cow's brains, but fears over contamination from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad-cow disease, forced Miyazawa to conduct research on food that could be obtained easily, and discovered plasmalogen in sea squirt, oyster and sea urchin.
According to Miyazawa, sea squirt is especially useful, because the presence of plasmalogen is as high as 0.1 percent in the creature's internal organs, which are usually discarded.
Miyazawa set up the company in August, and has developed a method of extracting plasmalogen from sea squirts. He plans to develop the medicine after monitoring its effects on patients over four or five years.
"The Sanriku coast in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures is a major sea squirt fishing area. The project may lead to the creation of a new industry in the Tohoku region if demand for plasmalogen products increases, not only in Japan but also in other countries with aging societies," Miyazawa said.