I haven't seen this posted...hope it's okay to post it here.

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON -- You've heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes.

Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar.

Much more at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...0317?hub=Health

It discusses how the line between vascular dementia and Alzheimer's is starting to blur, and some of the more specific findings. As to diet, all it says is this:

And if you're still healthy, Nixon advises "hedging your bets against Alzheimer's" with the same steps that help prevent both diabetes and heart disease - a good diet and plenty of exercise.

Instead of saying a good diet; they should say, cut out sugar entirely, if you must have pasta and bread at least make sure it's whole grain, don't eat potatoes, and eat food with fewer additives. They should also say that exersize doesn't have to be strenous that walking is good enough.

my dad is diabetic and he says that is the one thing that will spike his blood sugar.

Well, I only recently found out that a potato is the equivalant of sugar. I loved potatoes, but knowing what they really are makes it pretty easy to pass on them. I like squashes just as much, I might add them when I get to goal, then maybe not, I am will worry about it more when I get close.

Jenny (Blood Sugars 101) has "parsed" this and a number of other studies on the connection. It is not at all straight forward. You may want to check it out.

The thing is, they're only looking at diabetes not the whole range of metabolic issues that that people have before they're classified as diabetic. Also she makes a big deal out of dementia patients being thinner. That's part of the course of dementia is to lose weight. Presumably these were autopsy studies so folks who had gone through the wasting portion had probably died from their dementia, although the weight loss can happen earlier.

I think they're on the right track with looking at dementia as a metabolic problem.