Fish provides omega-3 fatty acids which may potentially help prevent dementia like Alzheimer's disease or relieve symptoms of the disease. But some researchers show concerned about the safety of farmed fish because the fish may acquire infectious prions from cows with mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy and humans who eat the infected fish may contract human version of mad cow disease called variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.
Robert P. Friedland of Department of Neurology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA and colleagues published a report in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease to express the concern.
Fish consumption is widely recommended because it is believed that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease (the most common dementia). The American Hear Association recommends two servings of fish per week.
The researchers said in their report "We are concerned that consumption of farmed fish may provide a means of transmission of infectious prions from cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans, causing variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease."
In addition to fish, milk from animals with brain wasting disease can carry infectious prions, meaning that drinking tainted milk or dairy products may get consumers human version mad cow disease. Milk has never been tested for prions before taken to the market.
Some observers suggest that prions can cause a variety of brain diseases including dementia like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's.
