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Alzheimer's could be caused by excess sugar: new study finds 'molecular link'

Quote:

From The Telegraph
London, UK
23 February, 2017

Alzheimer's could be caused by excess sugar: new study finds 'molecular link'

People who eat diets high in sugar could be at greater risk of Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

For the first time, scientists have established a "tipping point" link between blood sugar glucose and the degenerative neurological condition.

Researchers from the University of Bath found excess glucose damages a vital enzyme involved with inflammation response to the early stage of the disease.

Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycaemia, is a well-known characteristic of diabetes and obesity, and it is already understood that diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's, where abnormal proteins aggregate to form plaque and tangles in the brain.

Now, however, scientists have unravelled the specific molecular link between glucose and Alzheimer's disease, suggesting people who consumer a lot of sugar but are not diabetic are at increased risk.

They did it by studying brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer's disease.

They found that, in the early stages of Alzheimer's, an enzyme called MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor) is damaged by a process called glycation.

The researchers believe that inhibition and reduction of MIF activity caused by glycation could be the "tipping point" in disease progression.

The researchers found that, as the disease progresses, the glycation of these enzymes increases.

Professor Jean van den Elsen, from the University of Bath's department of biology and biochemistry, said: "We've shown that this enzyme is already modified by glucose in the brains of individuals at the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

"We are now investigating if we can detect similar changes in blood.

"Normally MIF would be part of the immune response to the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain, and we think that because sugar damage reduces some MIF functions and completely inhibits others that this could be a tipping point that allows Alzheimer's to develop."

In the study, scientists from the university worked with colleagues at the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King's College London.

Dr Rob Williams, also from the department of biology and biochemistry, added: "Knowing this will be vital to developing a chronology of how Alzheimer's progresses and we hope will help us identify those at risk of Alzheimer's and lead to new treatments or ways to prevent the disease."

Globally, there are around 50 million people with Alzheimer's disease and the figure is predicted to rise to more than 125 million by 2050.

Dr Omar Kassaar, from the University of Bath, added: "Excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity, but this potential link with Alzheimer's disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets."

The study, funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust, used brain tissue provided through Brains for Dementia, a joint initiative between Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK in association with the Medical Research Council.

The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...inds-molecular/

Quote:

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor is subjected to glucose modification and oxidation in Alzheimer’s Disease

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep42874

Short line in MedPage this morning, but not getting any press in US yet?
The Times had an article, and the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...lzheimer-s.html

We must not forget that all starches that are digested (not fiber) are broken down into glucose.

One hundred grams of whole wheat contains 87 grams of starches of which 15 are fiber for a net 72 grams of glucose equivalent. It's not just excess sugar that the researchers should be concerned about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodger

Thus, the central concept of Grain Brain.

We've discussed here before the growing realization that Alzheimer's is often called Diabetes III.

Sugar's 'tipping point' link to Alzheimer's disease revealed

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...70223124253.htm

Quote:

For the first time a "tipping point" molecular link between the blood sugar glucose and Alzheimer's disease has been established by scientists, who have shown that excess glucose damages a vital enzyme involved with inflammation response to the early stages of Alzheimer's.

Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycaemia, is well-known as a characteristic of diabetes and obesity, but its link to Alzheimer's disease is less familiar.

Diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to healthy individuals. In Alzheimer's disease abnormal proteins aggregate to form plaques and tangles in the brain which progressively damage the brain and lead to severe cognitive decline.

Scientists already knew that glucose and its break-down products can damage proteins in cells via a reaction called glycation but the specific molecular link between glucose and Alzheimer's was not understood.

But now scientists from the University of Bath Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy and Pharmacology, working with colleagues at the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King's College London, have unraveled that link.

By studying brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer's using a sensitive technique to detect glycation, the team discovered that in the early stages of Alzheimer's glycation damages an enzyme called MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor) which plays a role in immune response and insulin regulation.

MIF is involved in the response of brain cells called glia to the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain during Alzheimer's disease, and the researchers believe that inhibition and reduction of MIF activity caused by glycation could be the 'tipping point' in disease progression. It appears that as Alzheimer's progresses, glycation of these enzymes increases.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Professor Jean van den Elsen, from the University of Bath Department of Biology and Biochemistry, said: "We've shown that this enzyme is already modified by glucose in the brains of individuals at the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. We are now investigating if we can detect similar changes in blood.

"Normally MIF would be part of the immune response to the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain, and we think that because sugar damage reduces some MIF functions and completely inhibits others that this could be a tipping point that allows Alzheimer's to develop.

Dr Rob Williams, also from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, added: "Knowing this will be vital to developing a chronology of how Alzheimer's progresses and we hope will help us identify those at risk of Alzheimer's and lead to new treatments or ways to prevent the disease.

Dr Omar Kassaar, from the University of Bath, added: "Excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity, but this potential link with Alzheimer's disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets."

Globally there are around 50 million people with Alzheimer's disease, and this figure is predicted to rise to more than 125 million by 2050. The global social cost of the disease runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars as alongside medical care patients require social care because of the cognitive effects of the disease.

The study was funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust. Human brain tissue for this study was provided through Brains for Dementia Research, a joint initiative between Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK in association with the Medical Research Council.

Weird how these kinds of studies do not get screaming headlines that say something like, "That ice cream cone will make you lose your mind!"

Since we all know if the substance in question was like, bacon, Bacon would be slammed to the mat several times by now.

Not only no screaming headlines...no headlines at all in the US. See a BBC and Fox News Australia since the Science Daily report but it appears all US health writers have ignored this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEY100

Not only no screaming headlines...no headlines at all in the US. See a BBC and Fox News Australia since the Science Daily report but it appears all US health writers have ignored this one.

I am sad but not surprised.

Jane Brody of the New York Times is supposedly the "nation's leading health writer" yet for years she was a living monument to how the Lipid Hypothesis, and all that flowed from it, undermined health. She struggled with weight and cholesterol and other bad health markers; and her only response was to do it MORE and HARDER.

I guess it's just like Upton Sinclair famously said, "It is very hard to convince a person of something when their paycheck depends on them not understanding it."

I just watched a quick blurb about Alzheimer and the doctor was talking about plaque which forms in the brain. Interesting he said a full nights sleep helps wash it out of the brain. Supposedly there is a new drug that if taken early (for those with the genetic mutation) might get rid of the plaque also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meme#1

I just watched a quick blurb about Alzheimer and the doctor was talking about plaque which forms in the brain. Interesting he said a full nights sleep helps wash it out of the brain.

I can testify to the amount of healing which happens in deep sleep. I wonder how much of the Alzheimer's increase is connected with the Global Sleep Crisis?

Quote:

Social pressures are forcing people to cut back on their sleep, contributing to a "global sleep crisis," according to a new study based on research collected through a smartphone app.

It enabled scientists from the University of Michigan to track sleep patterns around the world -- gathering data about how age, gender and the amount of natural light to which people are exposed affect sleep patterns in 100 countries -- and better understand how cultural pressures can override biological rhythms.

"The effects of society on sleep remain largely unquantified," says the study published Friday in the journal Science Advances.

'Global Sleep Crisis' Study Reveals Why We're Not Getting Enough Sleep