Good Example Of Research Article Summary Essay

The paper entitled "Cocoa flavanol consumption improves cognitive function, blood pressure control, and metabolic profile in elderly subjects: the Cocoa, Cognition, and Aging (CoCoA) Study—a randomized controlled trial" is a research that focuses on the effect of flavanol on the cognitive performance of the elderly. This paper was first published on the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and was conducted by Daniela Mastroiacovo, Catherine Kwik-Uribe, Davide Grassi, Stefano Necozione, Angelo Raffaele, Luana Pistacchio, Roberta Righetti, Raffaella Bocale, Maria Carmela Lechiara, Carmine Marini, Claudio Ferri, and Giovambattista Desideri. The researchers were from four different institutions: (1) the Geriatric and Alzheimer's Unit of the “SS Filippo e Nicola” Hospital, (2) Mars, Inc., (3) Department of Life, Health, and Environmental Sciences of the University of L'Aquila, and (4) Complesso Integrato Columbus. Moreover, the research aimed to show that consumption of flavanol may lead to suppression of age-related cognitive dysfunction which could be caused by an influence in insulin sensitivity.
The research started with the idea about what causes cognitive dysfunction in aging individuals. With the increasing studies suggesting that higher flavonoids intake and lower prevalence of cognitive impairment are associated, this research could prove the efficiency of flavanols, a subclass of flavonoids, in reducing cognitive dysfunction among elders.
The research had strong criteria in choosing the right subjects for the study. The participants were chosen after evaluation of medical history, assessment of neuropsychology and physical examination, other laboratory variables and their habitual diet. Out of 174 subjects, the number of the remaining individuals after evaluation was 90. These 90 participants were then subjected to an 8-week study between December 2006 and July 2008. The remaining individuals were assigned to take flavanols while encouraged to continue usual daily activity: 30 were given 993 mg (HF) daily, 30 were given 520 mg (IF) daily and 30 were given 48 mg (LF) daily.
The assessment of the cognitive ability of the individual was conducted every morning after breakfast but before consumption of the cocoa drink. These tests included 4 standardized tests: (1) MMSE (Mini-Mental State), (2) Trail Making Test (TMT) A, (3) Trail Making Test B and (4) the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT). Also, the clinical systolic and the diastolic blood pressures of the individuals were taken every morning. To rule out personal biases in the study, an individual was ministered by the same research assistant for all his or her tests. Therefore, it is safe to assume that this research was well-designed.
After the study, researchers concluded that regular consumption of cocoa flavanol can help reduce age-related cognitive dysfunction. More specifically, in the study, it was shown that the 3 different treatments did not produce improvement in the MMSE, but the participants taking HF and IF were seen to have improved completion time of TMT A and B. Furthermore, the participants were observed to have improved VFT scores but participants taking HF were significantly better than those taking IF and LF. Moreover, insulin resistance, blood pressure and lipid peroxidation of the participants taking HF and IF were seen to have improved better than those taking LF.
In conclusion, the research was successful in showing that daily consumption of cocoa flavanol could reduce cognitive dysfunction in elderly individuals. In addition, cocoa flavanols can also help improve blood pressure, insulin resistance and lipid peroxidation.

Reference:

Mastroiacovo, D. et al. (2014). Cocoa flavanol consumption improves cognitive function, blood pressure control, and metabolic profile in elderly subjects: The Cocoa, Cognition, and Aging (CoCoA) Study—a randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.