GENETICS, BACTERIUM, OR DIET AND LIFESTYLE?
Time flies fast. Eight years ago, we posted an article about Alzheimer’s Disease, the probable identification of its exact cause and a link with type 2 diabetes. There was also the possibility of it being identified as Type 3 diabetes by medical experts and scientists. Today we provide you with an update.
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia characterised as a progressive and fatal brain disease. It slowly destroys a person’s ability to learn, make judgements, reason, carry out daily activities, communicate, and make memories. In addition, as the disease advances, the person may have personality and behaviour changes like agitation, anxiety, and delusions.
THE BAD NEWS
The exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease and the possibility of it being called Type 3 diabetes has still not been established.
The Good News – A Few Promising Updates
Add genetics to the mix of possible causes. A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer & Dementia (January 2021), discovered a particular genetic component contributing to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from Brigham Young University analysed (post-mortem) the brains of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. They found that the supporting cells of the nervous system of the post-mortem brains, were unable to utilise glucose as energy effectively.
It’s now known that our brains can use either glucose or ketones (from fat and protein) as fuel. On a genetic level, if our brain is predetermined (because of genes) to be unable to utilise glucose, it will turn to ketones for fuel. Unfortunately, if you’re presently enjoying a high carbohydrate and low fat, low protein diet, there might not be enough ketones left for your brain to use as fuel. As a result, your brain cells are continuously bombarded with high glucose levels they can’t use. The by-products of the excess glucose can damage your brain cells and their supporting tissues.
The essential takeaway from this study is that people with Alzheimer’s disease can eat foods that provide sufficient ketones, and stay away from a high carbohydrate diet. These foods or treatment methods may be able to slow the cognitive deterioration linked with the disease. Also, the findings from this study provide further evidence that the Keto Diet can tremendously benefit people who have Alzheimer’s disease.
Can we call Alzheimer’s disease Type 3 diabetes? As of now, the medical community has not widely and peacefully accepted that Type 3 diabetes is a medical diagnosis. But, more importantly, some medical experts still don’t agree that Alzheimer’s disease can also be referred to as another type of diabetes. The reason behind this is that not all cases of Alzheimer’s disease have an established connection with insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes.
Further complicating this situation is that people with Type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia by as much as 60%. You can imagine the confusion this might create if you also call Alzheimer’s disease Type 3 diabetes in people already diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes who develop Alzheimer’s disease.
A proposed alternative cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The theory that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by plaque build-up (amyloid hypothesis) has been around for decades. Unfortunately, treatment efforts directed towards this hypothesis have yielded unsatisfactory results.
A research study published in the Journal of Science Advances (January 2019) proposed that Porphyromonas gingivalis, the primary bacterium responsible for gum disease, may invade and cause inflammation in areas of your brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The inflamed areas produced plaque build-up (a protein called amyloid) similar to the ones found among patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This offers an alternative theory to the suspected causes of Alzheimer’s disease, like insulin resistance in the brain. The experiments were conducted on mice.
There’s still a lot to find out about insulin resistance in the brain before we can clearly establish Alzheimer’s disease as Type 3 diabetes. In the end, if it does push through, it can be appropriately treated with exercise, proper diet, and medicines.
Using these three treatment strategies at the same time may delay the progression of the disease. There are other new and possible causes, and these new findings provide fresh hope to the seemingly slow and unfruitful progress we experience in treating people with Alzheimer’s disease.
If you suspect you might have signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, consult your doctor as soon as possible.
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References
Jameson, J. L., Kasper, D. L., Fauci, A. S., Hauser, S. L., Longo, D. L., Loscalzo, J., & Harrison, T. R. (2018). Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-happens-brain-alzheimers-disease https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350447 https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/alz.12310 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900718302764 https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/39/2/300 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29129775/ https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau3333
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