Posted on 05/13/2015 1:32:26 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
With rising obesity, America faces an increased number of type 2 diabetes cases. With an aging Baby Boom generation, the country is bracing for an increase in Alzheimer's disease.
Could the two be related?
Previous studies have hinted at such a link. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say they have nailed down the connection.
Their study, using mice, found that elevated glucose in the blood – a primary consequence of diabetes -- can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, which shows up in brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients. The buildup of these plaques is believed to be what brings on the memory loss that Alzheimer’s causes in the brain.
Could lead to new treatments
“Our results suggest that diabetes, or other conditions that make it hard to control blood sugar levels, can have harmful effects on brain function and exacerbate neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead author Shannon Macauley, a postdoctoral research scholar. “The link we’ve discovered could lead us to future treatment targets that reduce these effects.”
There are two types of diabetes, type 1 mostly hereditary and the other, type 2, usually brought on by lifestyle factors, such as being overweight or obese. In both types the patient is unable to control glucose, or sugar levels in their blood.
Diabetes patients usually take insulin or other medication to keep their blood sugar where it is supposed to be.
So what does blood sugar have to do with Alzheimer's? To explore the linkage the researchers fed glucose to mice with an Alzheimer's-like condition.
The experiment
If the mice did not have the amyloid plaques in the brains, doubling their blood glucose levels increased amyloid beta levels in the brain by 20%. When the scientists repeated the experiment in older mice that already had developed brain plaques, amyloid beta levels rose by 40%.
When blood glucose levels spiked, it increased brain activity that helped produce amyloid beta.
“This observation opens up a new avenue of exploration for how Alzheimer’s disease develops in the brain as well as offers a new therapeutic target for the treatment of this devastating neurologic disorder,” Macauley said.
Speeds up aging
Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health say they have found another link between diabetes and diminished memory function. They studied the brains of people with type 1 diabetes and found these brains aged faster, correlating with slower information processing.
Among the middle-aged test subjects who underwent an MRI, 33% of those with type 1 diabetes showed signs of damage to the brain's white matter. Only 7% of subjects who were not diabetic showed similar damage.
The researchers suggest middle-aged patients with type 1 diabetes should be screened for cognitive difficulties. If cognitive issues are progressive, they say these changes could influence a patients ability to manage his or her diabetes.
Twenty years down the line....someone will finally say that the sugar level and usage by the typical American is the trigger for both episodes. And then we’ll have a frank discussion on just how much sugar ought to be in a soda, a candy-bar, or ice cream.
Unfortunately they forgot where they left it, luckily it was found by an employee at a candy store.
I have uncontrolled Type 1 diabetes. No pancreas, no insulin to call my own. I’ll bet some of those tested don’t get much physical exercise. I don’t think the article mentioned it in their testing. When I exercise I notice glucose levels go down faster and I have to use less insulin after a meal.
Same thing for mental exercise (intense concentration and problem solving for instance) will burn glucose at a faster rate. When I use my brain, I find I sometimes experience unexpected lows.
Anyway, the complications from diabetes or old age will eventually get me, so Alzheimers will just have to get in line. Besides if I remember who is the current POTUS, I’ll pass the Alzheimer test and no one will ever know.
My dear departed dad’s doctors used to ask him that question periodically just to see if he still had all his ducks in a row. He told me to write it down somewhere cause I’ll be asked the same question when I get to be his age (87 yo). If I make it that far, I just hope I can remember where I wrote it down. Anyway, I could never remember names.
P.S. After mama passed, he quickly lost it and couldn’t remember jack the last year of his life. So I think emotional stress and one’s attitude can pay a part in developing Alzheimers.
I have heard researchers who have said that Alzheimer’s is really Diabetes III. This isn’t the first Tim I’ve heard this.
One thing interesting is that either Swiss or Swedish researchers have found that you can cut the amount of blood sugar in half by taking a half hour swift walk.
If you did that twice a day, most people wouldn’t have a problem with Diabetes.
bttt
I might add this. A lot of people taking prescription medications might check the latest list of side effects for their medications. I noticed “confusion” has been recently listed as one of the side effects of a medication I take. I don’t recall (no pun) it being listed when I first started taking it.
bttt what?
It is not the amount of sugar in an item that drives sugar levels. It is the amount of sugar consumed.
If one makes candy-bars with half the amount of sugar, the consumer will just eat two of them.
Trying to control sugar consumption by limiting the amount in individual items is a fools errand.
It is like trying to limit gasoline consumption by requiring payment after every 5 gallons pumped.
It just angers everyone concerned.
“One thing interesting is that either Swiss or Swedish researchers have found that you can cut the amount of blood sugar in half by taking a half hour swift walk.
If you did that twice a day, most people wouldn’t have a problem with Diabetes.”
Yes, exercise seems to be quite helpful in controlling diabetes. I think once a day for half hour swift walks has been found to be adequate in most cases.
If you walk briskly for an hour, 3-4 times per week is likely enough.
Read ‘the GRAIN BRAIN’
Dentists long suspected a link between chronic gum disease and Alzheimer’s. They now speculate that any of five common types of spirochete bacteria found in the mouth may evade the blood-brain barrier through oral capillaries and go directly to the brain.
This does not cause a brain infection, but when the bacteria die, they remain in the brain, and over the course of years their remains may be the plaque associated with Alzheimer’s.
However, if this is the case, there is an easy solution.
When you brush your teeth, on alternate days use ordinary toothpaste, which fights tartar, and inexpensive powdered baking soda. Soda kills spirochete bacteria with just five seconds of exposure.
Baking soda toothpaste is not concentrated enough to be effective, but powdered baking soda is typically less than a dollar a pound, which should be enough for a year of brushing.
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