People with diabetes are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease

A new research studied in Japan resulted that people with diabetes are at increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke at early ages. Researchers have also reported that diabetes appears to dramatically increase a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other types of weak-mindedness later in life.

This study included more than 1,000 men and women over age 60, the study resulted that people with diabetes were twice as likely as the other study participants to develop Alzheimer’s disease within 15 years. They were also 1.75 times more likely to develop any kind of dementia.

“It’s very important for the public health to understand that diabetes is an essential risk factor for all of these types of dementia,” says Rachel Whitmer, PhD, an epidemiologist in the research division of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a nonprofit health-care organization based in Oakland, Calif.

Whitmer stresses that many questions remain about the link between diabetes and dementia. “This study was “well done” and provides “really good evidence that people with diabetes are at greater risk,” she says, “but we really need to look at other studies to find out why.”

Diabetes could promote to dementia in several ways which researchers are still working under. Stability to insulin which causes high blood sugar and in certain cases leads to Type 2 diabetes can interfere with ability of a body to break down protein (amyloid) which forms brain plaques which have been connected with Alzheimer's disease. High blood sugar (glucose) also makes certain molecules containing oxygen which can damage cages in the process known as oxidative stress.

Besides, high blood sugar along with high cholesterol plays a role in the hardening and narrowing of arteries in the brain. This condition, known as atherosclerosis may cause vascular dementia, which occurs when artery blockages (including strokes) kill brain tissue.

“High glucose is a stressor to the nervous system and to the blood vessels,” says David Geldmacher, MD, a professor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “The emerging information on Alzheimer’s disease and glucose shows us that we do need to remain vigilant on blood sugar levels as we get older.”