Alzheimer’s ‘starts in the womb’ if women don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables when pregnant

ALZHEIMER’S starts in the womb if mums-to-be do not eat enough fruit and veg, research has found.

Even a mild deficiency in vitamin A increased production of a protein that kills brain cells in the disease, scientists found.

Vitamin A is most commonly found in orange and yellow fruit and veg such as carrots, apricots and yellow peppers - as well as in all green, leafy vegetables.

It is also found in the form of fat in animal foods like liver, eggs and milk products.

Now scientists at the University of British Columbia, have discovered babies who do not get enough of the vitamin in the womb or just after birth are more at risk of developing dementia.

The finding are based on the effect of vitamin A deprivation in foetal and newborn mice.

Those given vitamin supplements did better in cognitive tests than those who weren't.

Dr Weihong Song, of the University of British Columbia, said: "Our study clearly shows that marginal deficiency of vitamin A, even as early as in pregnancy, has a detrimental effect on brain development and has a long lasting effect that may facilitate Alzheimer's disease in later life."

Dr Song built on previous research that has linked low levels of vitamin A with cognitive impairments.

He found that these mice, when deprived of vitamin A, even performed worse as adults on a standard test of learning and memory.

And the repercussions of vitamin A deficiency in the womb were not reversible after birth.

Even when they were given a normal diet as pups, they performed worse than mice who received a normal amount of the nutrient in the womb but were deprived after birth.

In other words, the damage had already been done in the womb.

These early developmental stages are crucial periods during which brain tissue is "programmed" for the rest of a person's life, researchers say.

But mice who were deprived in the womb but were given a supplement immediately after birth still performed better than those who weren't give a supplement at all.

Dr Song added: "In some cases, providing supplements to the newborn Alzheimer's disease model mice could reduce the amyloid beta [the protein associated with Alzheimer's that kills brain cells] level and improve learning and memory deficits.

"It's a matter of the earlier, the better."

The study, published today in Acta Neuropathologica, also included new evidence that vitamin A deficiency was lined to Alzheimer's development in later years.

Out of 330 elderly people examined in China, 75 per cent with either mild or significant vitamin A deficiency had cognitive issues, compared to 47 per cent with normal vitamin A levels, the researchers found.

However, Dr Song urged people not to overreact to the news, saying vitamin A deficiency, though common in many low-income regions of the world, is rare and excess intake of the nutrient can be harmful.

Pregnant women, in particular, should not take excessive vitamin A supplements and instead should eat a balanced diet to get adequate levels of the vitamin.

There are about 850,000 people in the UK currently suffering with Alzheimer's, and it is predicted to rise to a million by 2025.