Mayo Clinic: Mono-/Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids May Decrease Cognitive Impairment Risk
Mild cognitive impairment is an intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment can function reasonably well in everyday activities but may have difficulty remembering details of recent conversations, events and upcoming appointments, or in planning and making decisions. Most (but not all) patients with mild cognitive impairment develop a progressive decline in their thinking abilities over time. Alzheimer's disease is usually the underlying cause, but some patients may progress to other types of dementias.
"It is important that we understand the link between monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and its effect on mild cognitive impairment," says Rosebud Roberts, M.B.Ch.B., a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist. "Our findings suggest that the higher intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in contrast to saturated fatty acids may have a role in reducing the risk of mild cognitive impairment and, ultimately, of dementia."