Type 1 Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease

This week, I came across an interesting article in the journal Experimental Neurology from 2010, titled Type 1 Diabetes Exaggerates Features of Alzheimer's Disease in APP Transgenic Mice.  Now, what does all that mean?  The researchers found that when they induced type 1 diabetes (T1D) in mice that produce high levels of A-beta they performed worse on memory and learning capacity tests.  This suggests a link between T1D and Alzheimer's, which has high levels of A-beta, a protein that forms aggregates inside neurons, synoptic damage and plaque formation.

What's interesting is that T1D is characterised by a failure to produce insulin, as the pancreatic beta cells are damaged by auto-immune processes.  Alzheimer's patients also display impaired insulin function.  The impaired insulin function in the brain is associated with reduced insulin signalling and an increase in behavioral and biochemical features of Alzheimer's.  One of the key findings is that an enzyme called Insulin degrading Enzyme (IDE), not only degrades insulin but also other small proteins, including A-beta.  This leads to the accumulation of A-beta and it's precipitation to form plaques.

And the significance is?

From this study we can infer that untreated T1D increases your risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease.  This doesn't mean that non-T1D are off the hook.  A few years ago there was a study that linked type 2 diabetes to an increased risk of Alzheimer's as well.  This suggests a powerful role of insulin in brain function as both of these diseases are insulin disorders, either too much (T2D) or too little (T1D).

This is a pretty good reason to keep your insulin levels in check.  How do you do this?  Eat a fairly low carb, moderate fat, higher protein diet.  What's the easiest way to do this?

Eat:  Meat, colourful veges, some nuts and seeds, with limited starchy foods and fruits and eliminate sugars and processed foods.

Wow, that sounds like a paleo diet to me.  This will help you keep blood sugar levels in check, avoiding spikes and troughs during the day (and corresponding spikes and troughs of insulin), keep you feeling full (so you eat less, yes calories do matter after a point) and allow your body to access your stored energy (fat if you were wondering).

Any questions don't hesitate to contact me, we are available for nutritional consulting via face-to-face and skype calls.