Between one and two million people in the United States suffer from stroke-related or vascular dementia with its deterioration of emotional and cognitive abilities and loss of memory, language, reasoning and personality skills. Not surprisingly, the highest prevalence of dementia was found in the oldest study participants. The study also found that controlling hypertension and diabetes could help prevent strokes and vascular dementia. There are several possibilities. One may be due to the structural differences between the saturated fats found in animal products and the unsaturated fats found in fish, vegetables and seeds.
Saturated fats are linear, meaning their structure is straight.
Although this has been shown to have damaging effects, such as less flexible blood vessels and cell walls and higher cholesterol levels, it may also provide greater stability to blood vessel walls following a damaging event like a stoke. Saturated fat is also less likely to undergo oxidation which can trigger secondary damage than fats with double bonds and a more complex structure as is found in unsaturated fats. Strokes shut off the flow of blood and oxygen to an area of the brain. When normal repair processes begin and blood flow reopens, oxygen returns to the oxygen-starved areas of the brain and the return of oxygen triggers a marked increase in damaging oxidation. Saturated fats are not as prone to damage in this unique setting.