The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer's

What is known by some (but no consensus)

• Increased sugar increases risk of Diabetes (2X)
• Increased sugars/ carbs increases risk of cognitive problems by 1.8 X
• Vitamin D Reduces the risk of Diabetes and Alzheimer's
• Vitamin D Treats Diabetes and Alzheimer's
• 80% of Alzheimer's have Diabetes
• Can have sugar problem in brain without having diabetes

The Atlantic Jan 2018 = source of the title of this page

“A high-carb diet, and the attendant high blood sugar, are associated with cognitive decline.”

• “People who have type 2 diabetes are about twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s, and people who have diabetes and are treated with insulin are also more likely to get Alzheimer’s, suggesting elevated insulin plays a role in Alzheimer’s.”
• “The group that ate the most carbs had an 80 percent higher chance of developing mild cognitive impairment” – 2012 study
• Alernate possible pathways between sugar and Alzheimer’s
  Diabetes can also weaken the blood vessels, which increases the likelihood that you’ll have ministrokes in the brain, causing various forms of dementia.
  A high intake of simple sugars can make cells, including those in the brain, insulin resistant, which could cause the brain cells to die.
  , , eating too much in general can cause obesity. The extra fat in obese people releases cytokines, or inflammatory proteins that can also contribute to cognitive deterioration

Sugar increases risk of Diabetes: T1, T2, and T3 (Alzheimer’s) Mercola Feb 2018

Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer's Strengthens

• “… research suggests high-carb diets can increase your risk of dementia by 89 percent”
• “Alzheimer’s disease is intricately connected to insulin resistance; even mild elevation of blood sugar is associated with an elevated risk for dementia”
• “… this connection between high-sugar diets and Alzheimer’s was again highlighted in a longitudinal study published in the journal Diabetologia in January 2018.11 Nearly 5,190 individuals were followed over a decade, and the results showed that the higher an individual’s blood sugar, the faster their rate of cognitive decline.”
• “The connection between sugar and Alzheimer’s was first broached in 2005, when the disease was tentatively dubbed "Type 3 diabetes.””

Vitamin D Life

80% of Alzheimer’s have insulin resistance or full-blown type 2 diabetes.

Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease Is Easier Than You Think Sept 2016

High Blood Sugar Linked To Alzheimer Disease — How Can You Lower Your Risk?

The AD Plan Nov 2012

Overlaps between T2D and Alz - 2015

Shared Neuropathological Characteristics of Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease: Impacts on Cognitive Decline
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Shared links between T2D and Alz - 2016

Shared links between type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease: A review
Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, Volume 10, Issue 2, Supplement 1, April–June 2016, Pages S144-S149
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2016.01.021

Epidemiological studies have proved that, there are pathophysiological connections between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Diabetic patients have higher incidences of cognitive impairment and hence they are more at the risk of developing AD. Some of the recent evidences have majorly stated the effects of insulin resistance in the disturbance of various biological processes and signaling pathways. Both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemic conditions contributes in dysfunctioning of cognitive abilities and functions. The present review summarizes the evidences which establish the possible links between the two pathologies on the account of molecular, biochemical and at histopathological level. The information regarding their interactions was collected from different databases and journals. The gathered information will clearly establish the link among the two pathologies and will be helpful in future for the development of drugs for Type 3 Diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease - April 2017

 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Comorbidity Analysis - treatment for T2D may increase Alz - 2017

Comorbidity Analysis between Alzheimer's Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) Based on Shared Pathways and the Role of T2DM Drugs.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;60(2):721-731. doi: 10.3233/JAD-170440.
Karki R1,2, Kodamullil AT1,2, Hofmann-Apitius M1,2.
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
BACKGROUND:
Various studies suggest a comorbid association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) indicating that there could be shared underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE:
This study aims to systematically model relevant knowledge at the molecular level to find a mechanistic rationale explaining the existing comorbid association between AD and T2DM.

METHOD:
We have used a knowledge-based modeling approach to build two network models for AD and T2DM using Biological Expression Language (BEL), which is capable of capturing and representing causal and correlative relationships at both molecular and clinical levels from various knowledge resources.

RESULTS:
Using comparative analysis, we have identified several putative "shared pathways". We demonstrate, at a mechanistic level, how the insulin signaling pathway is related to other significant AD pathways such as the neurotrophin signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT signaling, MTOR signaling, and MAPK signaling and how these pathways do cross-talk with each other both in AD and T2DM. In addition, we present a mechanistic hypothesis that explains both favorable and adverse effects of the anti-diabetic drug metformin in AD.

CONCLUSION:
The two computable models introduced here provide a powerful framework to identify plausible mechanistic links shared between AD and T2DM and thereby identify targeted pathways for new therapeutics. Our approach can also be used to provide mechanistic answers to the question of why some T2DM treatments seem to increase the risk of AD.

PMID: 28922161 PMCID: PMC5611890 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-170440

The brain uses a lot of glucose - brain problems when there are sugar problems - April 2015

Sugar and Alzheimer's disease: a bittersweet truth
 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Alzheimer's may be due to Insulin reisitance in the brain or body (Diabetes, prediabetes) - May 2017

A Sweetlife.org

• "Researchers have known for several years about diabetes and the higher risk of vascular dementia, the second most common kind. In ways, it seems only logical: Vascular dementia is caused by damaged blood vessels in the brain, just as diabetes hardens blood vessels elsewhere."
• "On this much, many scientists agree: The rate of Alzheimer’s disease could be cut by close to half if diabetes could be abolished. "
• "People who haven’t necessarily developed diabetes might still develop insulin resistance in the brain"
• "A 2015 pilot study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that doses of nasal insulin —bypassing the blood/brain barrier—significantly improved memory in people with early Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. A larger, five-year clinical trial is now underway."

23 Clinical trials for Alzheimers and Insulin - Jan 2018

Clinical trials for Alzheimers and Insulin
Many of the trials are for nasal insulin

Mayo Clinic Minute: Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 diabetes? -Nov 2017

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-is-alzheimers-type-3-diabetes/

Nutrition Advance has a page Alzheimer's and diet - March 2017

Type 3 Diabetes: The Alarming Link Between Alzheimer’s and Diet

Vitamin D Life pages with SUGAR in title (8 as of June 2022)

This list is automatically updated