Research published in the June online journal Archives of Neurology strengthens the idea that diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk for cognitive decline such as Alzheimer's.
Dr. Kristine Yaffe and several other researchers studied more than 3,000 well-functioning older adults without dementia for 10 years. The average age of the men and women at the start of the study was approximately 74 years old. The scientists assessed the particpants' cognitive abilities at the beginning of the study and several times throughout the study. The scientists also identified which participants had diabetes mellitus at the onset of the study, who developed it over the years, and how well their blood sugar levels were controlled.
The following results were noted:
- At the study's onset, cognitive functioning was lower among those who already had DM than those without diabetes.
- Those who developed DM over the years experienced a greater cognitive decline than those who did not.
- Participants whose blood sugar was well-controlled over the years was experienced less of a cognitive decline than those whose blood sugars were poorly controlled.
The study's authors concluded, "Among well-functioning older adults, DM and poor glucose control among those with DM are associated with worse cognitive function and greater decline. This suggests that severity of DM may contribute to accelerated cognitive aging."
While this study does not prove conclusively that diabetes causes a decline in cognition, it does show a strong correlation between the two factors, and one that begs for continued research. Meanwhile, perhaps it serves as another motivation to continue your quest for good health through physical exercise, healthy eating and mental exercise.
Mental dysfunctions are often called ‘Diabetes 3′ for those reasons.
The fuel for the brain is simple carbohydrates, sugars. Digestion of sugars (carbohydrates) starts in the mouth with the production of a digestive enzyme called ptyalin. Together with chewing and the production of saliva this ptyalin breaks down sugars into semi-digested bits. The stomach also produces enzymes which break down the partly digested sugars more still. The small intestine does the same thing with some more enzymes, after which insulin breaks it down into glucose and galactose to be stored in the liver or absorbed in the blood. As you can see this is a process of various steps, each step necessary to break sugar down sufficiently for the next step. If one step in this process fails to do its job the other steps can’t do theirs either.
In this process Maltose needs maltase to be digested. Lactose needs lactase to be digested, sucrose needs sucrase, dextrose dextrase, and so on. But when this production of lactase stops we become unable to complete an important step in the process of sugar digestion. This leads to lactose intolerance and, eventually, allergy to dairy, which depletes the immune system and leads to disease.
We have seen before that insulin can only work with sugars that have undergone ALL steps of the digestive process. Insulin is ineffective with undigested sugars. The brain however recognizes the fact that there is too much (undigested) sugar in the system, and triggers the pancreas to produce more insulin, which is equally ineffective, and so on. This is called type 2 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is different in that the pancreatic glands called islets of Langerhans are NOT TRIGGERED BY THE BRAIN TO PRODUCE INSULIN.
As we have seen above, if we have an allergy to a particular food item,
The digestive system is NOT triggered to do anything. This is the cause of undigested sugars and the decline of brain function.