If you have watched the news in the last two weeks, you won’t have missed the discussion about the research from a Japanese study that was recently released. As you know from our previous blog, the number of cases of diabetes is increasing in America at an alarming rate.
As if that wasn’t unpleasant enough, other sources are now confirming what we at the AskDrKing have been pointing out for some time: diabetes can lead to dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease. As a matter of fact, Alzheimer’s disease is now being referred to as “Type III Diabetes”.
Most people understand that blood sugar levels are inextricably linked with diabetes, but they are not aware of how important blood sugar levels are to brain function. In fact, blood sugar imbalances are a cause of neurological degeneration, and that is what leads to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Your organ systems work synergistically together; each part of our body has a function and task that affects other parts of the body: organs, bones, muscles, and so on. Everyone can attest to the wonder of the complexity of our bodies in their functioning. The food that we eat provides glucose (blood sugar), and eating a healthy, balanced diet produces stable blood sugar levels. That said, many Americans don’t eat a very balanced diet, evidenced by the upswing in diabetes, and an unbalanced diet will produce varied levels of blood sugar. And when the body’s blood sugar levels bounce up and down, it directly affects the adrenal glands, which then release cortisol, which is what keeps your blood sugar in ‘check’.
And like most things, cortisol is good in moderation.
But low cortisol results in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), sleep disturbances and a lack of energy and chronic fatigue. Too much cortisol both eats away at the gut lining (causing problems we’ll cover in a later blog) and decreases the hippocampus’ ability to use acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that the hippocampus depends on for proper function. In short, high cortisol levels destroy the hippocampus, which controls conscious recall of factual information and short-term memory.
And what do dementia and Alzheimer’s patients suffer from?
Short-term memory loss. This current research from Japan and other countries is showing that Alzheimer’s patients are insulin resistant. Insulin aids in the brain’s ability to store information, so those with insulin-resistant diabetes can expect to see a decline in their ability for recall.
This recent study from Japan included over 1,000 men and women over the age of 60, and researchers found that people with diabetes were twice as likely as the other study participants to develop Alzheimer’s disease within 15 years, and almost twice as likely to develop dementia of any kind. And remember, as we said in our last blog, Type 2 Diabetes is completely reversible without medication.
Do you have diabetes? Would you like your symptoms to improve, or even disappear, and lessen your chance of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease? Do you have a loved one or family member that is starting to show signs of dementia? If so, then please call me, Dr. Corey King today on (714) 731-7680 to schedule a consultation.
