The diabetes-Alzheimer’s Disease Link

When my mother got up into her 80s and 90s, her greatest fear was that she would lose her memory. She never did. But for many seniors it happens.

So many of us lose brain function as we age that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

The medical community continues to look for a chemical cure to Alzheimer’s. Acknowledging the link between insulin resistance and onset of dementia diseases like Alzheimer’s, researchers have discovered that drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes have shown to reverse memory loss in mice. The drugs, known as triple receptor agonist drugs and sold under the trade names Byetta, Bydureon and Victoza, were injected daily in mice suffering from memory loss, brain inflammation, plaque formation and deteriorated synaptic functions — the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

In addition to increased memory function, the mice experienced reduced inflammation and improved synaptic functions.

Dr. Doug Brown, Director of Research and Development at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “With no new treatments in nearly 15 years, we need to find new ways of tackling Alzheimer’s. It’s imperative that we explore whether drugs developed to treat other conditions can benefit people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. This approach to research could make it much quicker to get promising new drugs to the people who need them.”

What should be more imperative than finding chemical cocktails to treat dementia diseases like Alzheimer’s is to acknowledge what prevents it and cures it. That’s not drugs, because Alzheimer’s patients aren’t suffering from want of drugs. They’re suffering from insulin resistance brought on by diet. And that’s where the link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes comes in.

My friend and colleague Dr. Michael Cutler calls insulin the master hormone. Excess insulin applies to all people and children too. It’s our diet. We shove so much sugar from our diet at our cells until they become insulin resistant. Insulin can’t get into our cells, then trouble begins.

In his book, The Insulin Factor, Dr. Cutler writes that if your master hormone (insulin) is dysfunctional, an inadequate supply of insulin in your brain leads to degeneration of your brain cells. This in turn can contribute to dementia. Studies show that people with lower levels of insulin receptors in their brains often have Alzheimer’s. Likewise, studies show that chronic high levels of insulin and sugar may be toxic to brain cells. So a healthy insulin response is key to nurturing healthy brain cells.

When we acknowledge the cause we can then prescribe the cure.

We know that type 2 diabetes can be cured by diet. It’s caused by diet. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes enough insulin, but blood sugar levels increase so that cell membranes are triggered to become insulin-resistant. In response, the pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, insulin receptors in cell membranes begin to function abnormally. When blood sugar levels remain high all the time, damage to the cells of organ systems is the result.

So it’s no surprise that chemical drugs that control insulin might improve memory loss. But better than drugs is to maintain a proper diet. That boils down to avoiding all processed foods and sugars, choosing instead to consume a diet primarily of organic fruits and vegetables (mostly raw), especially dark green leafy vegetables like kale, mustard greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, watercress, spinach and arugula; other green vegetables like romaine, bok choy, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, string beans, snow peas and green peas; non-green but nutrient-rich vegetables like beets, eggplant, mushrooms, onions, radishes, bean sprouts, red and yellow bell peppers, radicchio, cauliflower, tomatoes, artichokes and raw carrots.

Our diet should be 80 percent vegetables (organic) with only 20 percent meats (preferably free range and not exposed to GMOs or antibiotics).

We can also augment out diet with supplements that have been shown to help slow the advance of Alzheimer’s, though clinical trials have not yet confirmed their effectiveness in every case. They include:

• Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone, ubiquinol).
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• Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH).
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• Herbs and extracts: Cat’s claw, Bilberry and blackcurrant extracts, Huperzine A, Vinpocetine (cognitive protectant from the periwinkle plant).
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• Amino acids:Acetyl-L-carnitine, L-glutamine and L-tyrosine.
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• Vitamins: B6, B12, folate, D3 and E.

Getting a lot of attention in scientific circles is curcumin, an anti-inflammatory molecule in the turmeric root, a relative of ginger. Turmeric has been used in Asian cultures for thousands of years as a food flavoring and in medicinal preparations. It’s a common seasoning in Indian cuisine, which has a low incidence of Alzheimer’s. Whether turmeric can be credited with protecting Indians from Alzheimer’s or if it’s due to genetics or some other factor is not clearly known. But the coincidence is intriguing.

Mary S. Easton of the UCLA Alzheimer Translation Center stated, “Our group has tested curcumin in several models and found that it not only reduces oxidative damage and inflammation (as expected), but also reduces amyloid accumulation and synaptic marker loss while promoting both amyloid phagocytosis and clearance.”

If you’d like to learn more about the effects of insulin and the benefits of balancing your master hormone, Dr. Cutler’s book is the only one I know of that gives you the full story on how medical “science” missed the boat on insulin, and provides a complete protocol to help you reduce insulin, improve your brain function, drop your risk for strokes and heart attacks, and reverse chronic disease. You can get it here.

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