The Link Between Diabetes and Dementia

Brain health. As you get older, you start paying closer attention to this. You want to keep your brain functioning as strong as possible as you try to ward off the effects of “old age.”

But what happens when it’s not just age that is the cause of you forgetting things (names, words, why you walked into a room) more often?

It could be something more serious — like dementia — that is causing the decline in your brain function.

What can you do about it? Start with your blood sugar levels.

In this post, I explain how research is starting to show the correlation between brain health and blood sugar levels and what you can do to get (and keep) your levels in check for healthy brain function.

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of cognitive disorders typically characterized by memory impairment, as well as difficulty in motor activity and the ability to plan, organize, and speak.

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Every 68 seconds, another American develops Alzheimer's disease. The fatal brain disease that steals memory and personality is also becoming a leading factor of death. Alzheimer's disease is ranked fifth on the list of leading causes of death in the United States.

Alzheimer’s is a complex and difficult disease. In the late stages of the condition, patients suffer from loss of appetite and lose the ability to communicate verbally, move without assistance, and recognize family members and friends. However, death typically comes as a result of aspiration, pneumonia, infection, or coronary arrest.

What Causes Alzheimer's?

The widely accepted theory of Alzheimer's says that protein beta-amyloid forms plaque outside neurons in the brain. This plaque somehow causes the production of abnormal tau tangles inside neurons. This interferes with synapses — the information connections between neurons that create memory and other mental activity.

There is also the theory that normal mental function depends on a balance between synaptic blastic (synapse-making) and synaptoclastic (synapse-destroying) activity. If there is more synaptoclastic activity, memory loss may occur. If there is chronic synaptoclastic activity, then Alzheimer's may occur.

There are other factors that may influence the development of Alzheimer's and dementia.

Your Water

A scientific paper published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology theorizes that inorganic copper found in drinking water is an important factor in today's Alzheimer's epidemic. Animal research shows that small amounts of inorganic copper in drinking water worsen Alzheimer's. This is why I recommend filtering water.

Low Vitamin D

Another risk factor for Alzheimer's is a low blood level of vitamin D. Researchers have found that low blood levels of vitamin D were linked to a 40% increased risk for Alzheimer's. The best way to combat this risk is to have your vitamin D levels tested, and take a vitamin D supplement if your levels are low.

Your Outlook

Another contributing factor to Alzheimer's may simply be how you think about your life. A seven-year study published in Archives of General Psychiatry found that people who had a "purpose in life" were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer's.

Researchers found that people who agreed with the following statements were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's: "I feel good when I think of what I have done in the past and what I hope to do in the future" and "I have a sense of direction and purpose in life."

High Blood Sugar & Diabetes

Elevated blood sugar levels are commonly associated with diabetes and even prediabetes. Research has also shown that higher blood sugar levels can impair your brain, and people with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of developing cognitive impairment — including dementia.

Diabetes and dementia are connected in ways that still aren't completely understood. Diabetes is known to damage your blood vessels. Dementia and Alzheimer's are types of cognitive decline caused by damaged blood vessels in the brain. Many people with cognitive decline have brain changes that are similar to both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Many researchers believe diabetes, dementia, and Alzheimer's each help fuel the damage caused by the other.

Type 2 diabetes affects the ability of the brain and other body tissues to use sugar (glucose) and respond to insulin. High blood sugar is associated with low glutathione production. Glutathione production is essential for brain health.

This greater insight into how diabetes and cognitive diseases are connected reveals new strategies to avoid dementia as a complication of diabetes.

For updated protocols and John's best recommendations for reversing diabetes and avoiding dementia, grab your free wellness guide here.

Grow in love,