Rosemary could protect the brain

Practice regular physical activity, do not smoke, avoid consumption of alcohol, eat healthy and … enhance your dishes with rosemary! According to a study published in the journal Scientific Reportsthe latter advice could join the list of those recommended to limit the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

A rosemary component would increase the level of dopamine in the brain

During their work, scientists have more precisely studied rosmarine acid, a compound of rosemary. For this, they conducted experiences on two groups of mice they made sick. They all had the same diet but, in the second, the researchers sprinkled their rosmarine acid food.

The latter thus discovered that this substance had an impact on an enzyme capable of engaging the degradation of dopamine. This molecule is produced by certain neurons, which they use as a messenger to send information. It is therefore a neurotransmitter who, according to The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), “is involved in the modulation of circuits with a wide variety of functions: motor, psychic or even behavioral”.

Thus, by slowing down the degradation of dopamine, rosmaric acid increases its concentration in the brain. According to researchers, this would reduce the lesions involved in Alzheimer’s disease and protect the consumer.

Encouraging results to prevent Alzheimer’s, but to be confirmed

For the moment, it is impossible to draw a final conclusion from this work. Indeed, scientists also observed that the active substance of rosemary had “a low cerebral permeability”, in other words difficulty in entering the brain. In addition, the tests were only carried out on animals, and not yet on human beings.

But if the results are confirmed, they could be very important. Indeed, in 2021, 57 million people had dementia in the world, according to theWorld Health Organization (WHO). Among them, 60 to 70 % were affected by Alzheimer’s disease. In France, 900,000 people have this pathology, according to The Pasteur Instituteincluding twice as many women as men.

Currently, there is no curative treatment against this neurodegenerative disease. People affected have memory disorders that increase over time. They impact his daily life and his autonomy, to the most simple speech and gestures. Nevertheless, from one patient to another, the evolution can be more or less rapid. Treatments make it possible to slow down the progression of the disease, especially if the diagnosis is made at the early stage.