Experts have long recommended red wine as one of the health resources that could play a role in preventing heart disease.
Now, scientists at UCLA and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine are suggesting that naturally occurring compounds in red wine may aid the prevention of some tumors and even Alzheimers disease.
Findings published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveal that polyphenols are able to block the creation of proteins that form dangerous plaques which are thought to play a major role in dementia.
Professor David Teplow and colleagues used a polyphenol compound extracted from grape seeds to demonstrate how this process reduced toxicity and prevented the formation of new toxic aggregates.
He suggested that this compound could be used in future treatments for memory problems.
“Our work in the laboratory suggest[s] that administration of the compound to Alzheimers patients might block the development of these toxic aggregates, prevent disease development and also ameliorate existing disease,” Teplow said.
Previous research by French scientists has found that high doses of polyphenols have the potential to prevent or combat cancerous tumors by blocking the formation of new blood vessels that the tumors need to grow.