What do you all think to this: Medical Monday: Alzheimer's link to diabetes | todaysthv.com
Alzheimers link to diabetes...
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Scary. 
Grandma had Type 2 and died from Alzheimer's.
Grandma had Type 2 and died from Alzheimer's.
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Mine too. Never saw the connection before. Her D was nowhere near as severe as mine. She took care of herself as well as you could in the '70s-'80s (with, oh, some slippage -- but the old exchanges diet was a real bear as I recall).
Then again, though diabetes is our family obligation, she is the only relative I know of who had Alzheimer's, or who died (or even suffered) from anything we now know as a D-complication. She was 92.
Then again, though diabetes is our family obligation, she is the only relative I know of who had Alzheimer's, or who died (or even suffered) from anything we now know as a D-complication. She was 92.
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Heh - a couple of years ago my alzheimer mom was worried about something and I told her not to, that she had taken care of it, she only had forgotten. She said, "That's right! I forgot I can't remember!"
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I know afters of an a1c over 8 my memory just isn't as good, maybe it's do to the fact i'm in my early 50's but i got to believe part of is having a high sustained blood sugar for such a long time. I didn't really take my diabetes serious until i got married about 3 years ago and now i see how it affects another person(my wife) directly. I saw a study years ago that said repeated high blood sugars can cause dementia in some diabetes. All i know is that not taking it seriously until lately has not helped my thinking.
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Jenny Ruhl, over at Blood Sugar 101, has quite a bit to say about diabetes and dementia, such as:
Dementia and Diabetes - A Confusing Relationship
Her basic message, if I read correctly, is that getting BGLs down and keeping them down is key to prevention of Alzheimer's and vascular dementias. Diabetes alone does not sentence us to this fate.
Makes sense, when you consider our meters are a fairly recent development. Those who've come and gone before us could not dream about the control we can now achieve (if only after much tweaking).
Dementia and Diabetes - A Confusing Relationship
Her basic message, if I read correctly, is that getting BGLs down and keeping them down is key to prevention of Alzheimer's and vascular dementias. Diabetes alone does not sentence us to this fate.
Makes sense, when you consider our meters are a fairly recent development. Those who've come and gone before us could not dream about the control we can now achieve (if only after much tweaking).
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143 Posts
Alzheimer Treatment with Nasal Insulin
I'm resurrecting this thread since I find no reference to it elsewhere. It seems that Alzheimers is effectively treated by inhaling insulin. The inhalation puts the insulin directly into the brain, where the high glucose seems to exacerbate memory loss. It works with both prevention and in slowing onset of alzheimers. Suzie Craft did this work and her study has integrity although she cautions it is early stage.
Medscape: Medscape Access
I'm resurrecting this thread since I find no reference to it elsewhere. It seems that Alzheimers is effectively treated by inhaling insulin. The inhalation puts the insulin directly into the brain, where the high glucose seems to exacerbate memory loss. It works with both prevention and in slowing onset of alzheimers. Suzie Craft did this work and her study has integrity although she cautions it is early stage.
Medscape: Medscape Access
It is not the high glucose which causes the problem but rather the "insulin resistance" of nerve cells in the brain which prevents it from taking up the glucose and using it for energy (i.e., ATP). It is NOT diabetes but rather a similar disorder in another system of the body. It is by no means the case that everyone who has this "diabetes of the brain" or "type 3 diabetes" (i.e., Alzheimer's) has regular diabetes. They are not directly related like that, although some correlation is suspected.
The scariest part is that it is believed that this condition persists for 10 or even 20 years before ANY manifestations of dementia or Alzheimer's are apparent. By that time (just like with T2 diagnoses), much of the damage is already done.
Shooting insulin through the sinuses into the brain may be of benefit, but I highly doubt if it is a good solution. You see, these same nerve cells which have developed their own form of insulin resistance do not NEED glucose at all. They can switch and use ketones instead.
So, on a ketogenic diet where there are plenty of ketones available in the blood, the whole problem is presumably eliminated. A certain Dr. Veech at NIH is experimenting with this with pretty amazing preliminary results. Of course, profit must be involved so instead of doing the obvious and using simple diet, he's looking for some kind of pill or injection which can be SOLD which will do the same thing - cause ketones to be present and available in the blood - to prevent and possibly even reverse Alzheimer's.
I have a parent and a grandparent who died of Alzheimer's and I intend to stay in a state of ketosis for the rest of my life!
BTW, if you notice the paragraph about the "side effects" of the ketogenic diet which include rising triglycerides and LDL and falling HDL, it makes me wonder what on earth they did wrong.
My diet (and that of many others) is very close to the classical KD used to treat juvenile epilepsy, so how come we experience exactly the opposite on all counts? Drastically reduced triglycerides, big increase in HDL and a drop in LDL and blood pressure. (Not to mention favorable Type A LDL particle size.)
I suspect they did something really stupid like using hydrogenated oils for example. In fact, I've seen KD "products" for sale (for the parents of epileptics) which did contain such horrible things. Also, after the original KD, they came up with the MCT KD which used large amounts of coconut oil to even better results (and more similar to my own, I guess).
I eat just slightly less "extreme" than the classic KD, have ketones present at all times and yet all lipid numbers are improved. It boggles the mind how they continuously do stupid stuff. I guess it's their "god" complex and utter disrespect for nature and all things "natural".
A ketone pill? Please! Just change your WOE. It is NOT a "horrible" diet when done right, its actually very pleasant and satisfying (but of course, many of you already know that!)
My diet (and that of many others) is very close to the classical KD used to treat juvenile epilepsy, so how come we experience exactly the opposite on all counts? Drastically reduced triglycerides, big increase in HDL and a drop in LDL and blood pressure. (Not to mention favorable Type A LDL particle size.)
I suspect they did something really stupid like using hydrogenated oils for example. In fact, I've seen KD "products" for sale (for the parents of epileptics) which did contain such horrible things. Also, after the original KD, they came up with the MCT KD which used large amounts of coconut oil to even better results (and more similar to my own, I guess).
I eat just slightly less "extreme" than the classic KD, have ketones present at all times and yet all lipid numbers are improved. It boggles the mind how they continuously do stupid stuff. I guess it's their "god" complex and utter disrespect for nature and all things "natural".
A ketone pill? Please! Just change your WOE. It is NOT a "horrible" diet when done right, its actually very pleasant and satisfying (but of course, many of you already know that!)
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143 Posts
Salim: Your analysis of the brain glucose effects is accurate and my apologies for a hasty post that got it wrong. Insulin resistance of nerve cells is a likely mechanism.
I was inspired by your signature file and made this one in similar format. We are the same age and I can now post a one year result, almost to the day. Suggestions on how to lower LDL are welcome, but I am happy with the result so far. I estimate that I consume less carbs than you do, but that is my estimate not a direct measure. I also assume your 11 grandkids is a measure of stress reduction. My three teen-plus daughters are stress inducers so I expect your chemistry to be better than mine until these birds leave the nest. lol.
My suggestion as to how to lower your cholesterol (by which I assume you mean LDL):
DON'T!
You numbers are great. There is no proven benefit in lowering cholesterol especially yours which is within even the official "normal" range (or at least that of a few years ago as they keep changing it). In people over 50 like us, there is a significant DIRECT correlation between higher cholesterol and longevity! That means the higher your cholesterol the longer you are expected to live statistically. This is even more true for women than men.
The only number I would look to improve if those were mine is to try to get the HDL up a little. It's borderline "low". It happened for me (34 to 50-something within the first year) so I can't say for sure what did it - too many things changing at once - but I believe it was eating lots of fat and especially saturated fat. Exercise may have contributed, too. I was really good about it for the first 8 months after DX. Not so much now - and no, I'm not proud of that nor do I recommend it!
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