Alzheimer’s Disease – Are you in control of your diet?

One of the most discussed topics in the media over the last 12 months is Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. With more than 850,000 people suffering from dementia in the UK and over 52% of the UK public aware of someone in their circles who has dementia, it is clear that this particular family of conditions is a priority for governments and research institutions worldwide (1). 

However, pharmaceutical companies seem to be at a loss over potential treatment possibilities, and some companies are now pulling out of the “race to treat Alzheimer’s” (2). It, therefore, becomes more and more important to understand possible routes of prevention, if prevention is possible. 

Recently, Alzheimer’s Disease has been branded as “type 3 diabetes” or “diabetes of the brain” (3). This branding suggests, as with type 2 diabetes, that there is a link between diet, insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Diabetes is a condition which has a very characteristic marker: blood sugar levels are too high. There are two types of diabetes which are very different from each other but share the same marker described above.

Patients with Type 1 Diabetes cannot generate their own insulin, which is a hormone that regulates the production and uptake of glucose (or sugar) in the body (4).

Patients with Type 2 Diabetes have developed a form of resistance to the insulin that their body produces (4). 

The pancreas produces insulin and in healthy individuals allows the uptake of glucose in cells and tissue. If this mechanism is dysfunctional, glucose remains in the bloodstream, which causes high readings on blood sugar tests. In the long-term patients with diabetes can suffer from conditions of the heart, eyes, feet and kidneys (4). 

Alzheimer’s disease, as previously mentioned, has been branded as a similar condition, since studies have shown a link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s. The Mayo Clinic reports: “Many people with diabetes have brain changes that are hallmarks of both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Some researchers think that each condition fuels the damage caused by the other.” (5). 

Although this classification of Type 3 Diabetes is highly controversial and has not yet been widely accepted by the medical community as a whole, it is clear that similar to Type 2 Diabetes, a healthy and varied diet with regular exercise could aid in the prevention of the condition.

A significant complication with Alzheimer’s Disease, which is the most prevalent of all forms of dementia is the fact that it is often diagnosed too late, which complicates the drug discovery process (6). If individuals take control of their diets and exercise habits, however, they and their families may find themselves in a position to more readily recognise the typical symptoms of disease-associated problems.

There are, of course, many other factors that need to be considered in the prevention of this and many other diseases. Many studies conclude that the following six factors could be the key to prevention (7):

1. Regular Exercise
2. Social Engagement
3. Healthy Diet
4. Mental Stimulation
5. Quality Sleep
6. Stress Management

It seems intuitive that these factors are beneficial to our overall wellbeing. However, scientifically these factors that seem a little subjective and hard to measure can have a profound impact on health and biomarkers. It is, for example, well accepted that stress causes increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are small proteins that affect the communication between cells and increase the level of inflammation in the body (8, 9).

Currently, we do not know how Alzheimer’s Disease works, but researchers are striving every day to understand the mechanism of the disease to come closer to a solution. The link between Alzheimer’s and Diabetes is undoubtedly interesting and irrespective of whether the two conditions are linked in their pathology, we are best served by ensuring that we are living in a way that reduces our risk profile.