This food research project aims to tackle Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and slow down the brain ageing process.
World demographic trends are on the rise. According to information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the current world population is 7,404 million, and by 2050 this figure is set to exceed 9.6 billion.
According to forecasts, an ageing population will be one of the main features of the population pyramid in the near future. The number of people over 60 will double by 2050, and triple by 2100. In Europe alone, 34% of the population will be over 60.
Faced with these figures, driving forward and developing medication and treatments that improve the quality of life of older people and slow down the ageing process in the human brain, will provide society with the mechanisms needed to efficiently maintain health systems.
Research that could help improve the mental health of older people is already underway at the Dairy Research Institute in Villaviciosa. Together with other national company institutions, such as the Asturian-based Reny Picot, it is developing a nutritional supplement that slows down the ageing process in the human brain.
Following studies by Asturian scientists, performed first on animals then later on humans, La Paz Hospital in Madrid will produce the supplement for distribution.
Older people are at greater risk of presenting symptoms of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, and to date neither of these illnesses has a cure. However, this could all radically change with the food supplement being worked on by Asturian scientists.
Asturian researchers warn that to be effective, as well as consuming the supplement, older people at risk of suffering from this kind of illness should also follow a varied and balanced diet.
