aging baby boomers hooked on fish can have a reason to cheer. The results of a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that higher levels of blood mercury from fish consumption does not affect the conduct of a person or learning abilities.
Mercury is ubiquitous in the environment. Cars and heavy industry, as well as medical and other wastes, all contribute. Microorganisms convert mercury into methylmercury, which can easily enter the body and blood of a lodge in the brain, causing a host of neurological problems. The main source of mercury in humans is seafood. Because seafood also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to be beneficial for the heart, older Americans are encouraged to eat more . This is worrying because the elderly population could be a greater risk to suffer the harmful effects of mercury.
To assess the risk, Megan Weil, a scientist of Environmental Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and his colleagues correlated factors such as age and fish consumption with the behavior and learning ability. The team analyzed the amount of mercury in the blood of 474 people aged 50 to 70. "Most mercury advisories are based on age women and procreate children," says Weil. "But we forget the aging population, which is more sensitive to toxic substances." The subjects then received a series of 12 neurobehavioral tests. The researchers found that the increase in mercury levels in the blood have been associated with a worse score on visual memory tests, but better scores with manual dexterity tests. in addition, "We have seen no decline in cognition," says Weil.
"This is a nice study because of its large sample size and rigor of data collection, "says Michael Shannon, a medical toxicologist at Children's Hospital in Boston. But he said it is too early to reassure older adults, because the results are "methodologically flawed and lacking a clear take-home message." Because fish consumption can vary from someone over time, the authors acknowledge, a single measurement of mercury in the blood may not be sufficient to draw long-term conclusions.
related site
NIH information on consumption mercury
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