Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Sugar

Studies have long shown that diabetics have an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Yet research seems to indicate that medications that control blood sugar levels in diabetics do not lower the patient’s risk for Alzheimer’s.

A study published in 2014 in the journal PLOS One followed more than 70,000 newly diagnosed adult diabetics over an eleven-year period. Their risk for developing Alzheimer’s was 76% higher compared to age-matched non-diabetic controls. Significantly, it was found the risk for developing AD was not reduced in those subjects who took medications for diabetics.

“We found that use of hypoglycemic agents [diabetic medications] had no beneficial effects for preventing development of AD,” wrote the authors. They recommended that therapeutic strategies that prevent diabetes, or improve treatment for it, should be investigated to prevent development of AD, which is an incurable disease.

A 2016 article by Dr. Georgia Ede published in Psychology Today suggests that AD is largely preventable by adherence to a no-sugar, low-carbohydrate diet as a means of controlling blood sugar levels.