Is Alzheimer's Caused by Junk Food?

Prahasaurus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/alzheimers-junk-food-catastrophic-effect

A large body of evidence now suggests that Alzheimer's is primarily a metabolic disease. Some scientists have gone so far as to rename it: they call it type 3 diabetes.

If so, look for a dramatic increase in Alzheimer's in the coming years, to coincide with the massive deterioration in our diets.

--P

meerkat70

There's a correlation between metabolic disorders and alzheimers. However my reading if this literature wouldn't suggest it *is* a metabolic disorder, but rather mets create a vulnerability to the condition. Worrying either way, but I do think the guardian is guilty of a bit of sloppy scientific reporting there.

Stuz359

You already posted this.

Prahasaurus

You already posted this.

No, I didn't.

--P

tnmyers23

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/alzheimers-junk-food-catastrophic-effect

A large body of evidence now suggests that Alzheimer's is primarily a metabolic disease. Some scientists have gone so far as to rename it: they call it type 3 diabetes.

If so, look for a dramatic increase in Alzheimer's in the coming years, to coincide with the massive deterioration in our diets.

--P

Okay this is a new one for me. I have never heard this. I have worked in the health field for a long time and cared for many people with Alzheimer's. Some who I have known most of my life (lived in a small community) that eneded up with Alzheimers and they were not into junk food. They are older and believed in home cooking and kind of the hunting /gathering way of life. This research is another grasp at trying to explain the unexplainable.

knk1553

Where is this large body of evidence? What research? References are needed.

Has this study been done in a laboratory under controlled conditions ruling out all other extrarraneous variables? If not, its just correlated, and correlation design for studys DO NOT IMPLY causation. So don't say cause, its not caused. Increase in junk food consumption is CORRELATED with an increase in alzheimers. But there could be other factors, maybe someone who eats a lot of junk food has other medical conditions going on that cause the dementia, or people are just living long enough now for us to actually see the full blown effects of Alzheimers, or someone who is predisposed to alzheimers has the brain chemistry which leads them to crave "junk food" type foods. You never know.

Point is, don't imply causation out of correlation. Englarged ventricles in the brain are seen in people with Alzheimers, Schizophrenia and Anorexia. Yes, Alzheimers and Schizophrenia can present somewhat similarly, but an individual with anorexia is often very very successful, intelligent, and has a good memory, so yes, an increase in ventricle size is correlated with all 3 of those, but increase ventricles is not the only cause. Don't imply causation, its the reason people believe stupid crap.

inkandsheep

I read about this with interest the other day because my grandmother had Alzheimer's. She didn't eat junk food as such - but she did use a lot of butter, white flour, white sugar, full fat milk etc. so perhaps those are all "junk" food too... She was always a normal weight and did a reasonable amount of exercise. I think the same is true for many of the people living with Alzheimer's, so I found this study quite surprising.

rowyourboat

I didn't read the article. However my mother has Alzheimer's and is in a facility that promotes the mediterranean diet. She did eat mostly "junk" food most of her life. She did not enjoy and rarely ate vegetables and fruits. I'm not looking for a cause or reason why she got it, but I am looking for a way for me to avoid this horrible disease. I'm trying to find a way to incorporate the mediterranean way into my life. We shall see where I am in 40 years!

Matt_Wild

If you read the piece in the original form you'd have seen this in the New Scientist. Lots of may's and might's. Interesting but a lot of conjecture, currently.

BrianSharpe

If you read the piece in the original form you'd have seen this in the New Scientist. Lots of may's and might's. Interesting but a lot of conjecture, currently.

^^^This, and based on one researchers observations of rats whereby the researcher had interfered with the way the rats' brains reacts to insulin.

"But results such as de la Monte's have led some researchers to wonder whether Alzheimer's may sometimes be another version of diabetes - one that hits the brain. "
"Brain diabetes: the ultimate food scare"
New Scientist Sept 2012

hardly a smoking gun :huh:

Matt_Wild

See, I'm not just a pretty face - I do read around :laugh:

ShaunW1992

They want to change the name to type 3 diabetes....I heard it on youtube so the creditability is pretty low but it's food for thought.

meerkat70

Where is this large body of evidence? What research? References are needed.

Has this study been done in a laboratory under controlled conditions ruling out all other extrarraneous variables? If not, its just correlated, and correlation design for studys DO NOT IMPLY causation. So don't say cause, its not caused. Increase in junk food consumption is CORRELATED with an increase in alzheimers. But there could be other factors, maybe someone who eats a lot of junk food has other medical conditions going on that cause the dementia, or people are just living long enough now for us to actually see the full blown effects of Alzheimers, or someone who is predisposed to alzheimers has the brain chemistry which leads them to crave "junk food" type foods. You never know.

Point is, don't imply causation out of correlation. Englarged ventricles in the brain are seen in people with Alzheimers, Schizophrenia and Anorexia. Yes, Alzheimers and Schizophrenia can present somewhat similarly, but an individual with anorexia is often very very successful, intelligent, and has a good memory, so yes, an increase in ventricle size is correlated with all 3 of those, but increase ventricles is not the only cause. Don't imply causation, its the reason people believe stupid crap.

There are many studies that do indicate the correlation - lifestyle factors do appear to set up a vulnerability to the disease. Generally newspapers don't cite studies, but a quick perusal of google scholar will yield the information you're asking about.

Yes, of course correlation doesn't equal causality. But of course, risk factors don't operate in a simple linear causal manner either. The 'junk food' comment in the article is speculative and perhaps a little silly. But there is evidence around metabolic issues and alzheimers - that association is nothing new.

I think the OP was merely expressing an interest in the idea indicated by the article he referenced. i don't think the onus is really on him to provide evidence on what is, essentially an 'oh isn't this interesting' post.

meerkat70

They want to change the name to type 3 diabetes....I heard it on youtube so the creditability is pretty low but it's food for thought.

Who is 'they' in this scenario? I think the type 3 diabetes thing is an attention grabber - it's a line. I don't think there's any serious intention by any researchers in this area to do this.

meerkat70

If you read the piece in the original form you'd have seen this in the New Scientist. Lots of may's and might's. Interesting but a lot of conjecture, currently.

^^^This, and based on one researchers observations of rats whereby the researcher had interfered with the way the rats' brains reacts to insulin.

"But results such as de la Monte's have led some researchers to wonder whether Alzheimer's may sometimes be another version of diabetes - one that hits the brain. "
"Brain diabetes: the ultimate food scare"
New Scientist Sept 2012

hardly a smoking gun :huh:

Good post.

phoennix3

Interestingly enough, I have just completed a study of famously creative people with specific brain disorders. The focus was on four disorders: Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Alzheimer's and epilepsy. My main concern was finding a correlation between musical creativity and bipolar... in doing so, I also found that most famous Alzheimer sufferers were actually creative writers,(mostly novels, as poets also cornered the market on bipolar too!)
Oh and around 98% of famous schizophrenics were creative in the specific area of killing other people.
The study was not overly extensive, but it did provide some interesting information. Including the statistic that all four illness' affect around 1% of any given population. However due to some reclassification issues Bipolar has 'increased' (at least in the USA) to between 4 to 8%.

janesmith1

Fascinating subject. My MIL has Alz and, I think, a serious un-dx'd hypoglycemic. My DH's entire family was in denial about my MIL's hypoglycemia/anorexia.

She would not drink milk as it would make her "fat" and ate very little real foods. She always had to have chocolate and craved it constantly, and it seemed to me, when she was feeling low, as in hypoglycemic low.

My FIL (who believes himself to be a genius) said she "needs her chocolate" since they told her that as a child (!!!), yeah, 60 years ago!!! Science has come quite a bit forward. Whatever, no one listens to me on my DH's side of the family except for one of his sisters.

But I do think it contributed to her Alz and her osteoporosis (see the milk comment). She hardly ate ANY food as all food would "make her fat", except for her "chocolate".

I gave up trying to tell these people anything.

lyttlewon

The article is committing a logical fallacy. People who have insulin resistance may suffer from Alzheimers. It isn't the junk food that is the issue, but the insulin resistance.

MissMaggie3

Just to let you all know, a few of us have started a group: Alzheimer's prevention and support: New members welcome.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8476-alzheimer-s-prevention-support

sidney_19

Great pointers guys and to add some info about Alzheimer, I learn from here that space radiation can also cause Alzheimer. The studies lead author is Dr. M. Kerry O'Banion, a professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Researchers exposed 29 male mice and 20 female mice to controlled doses of radiation at NASA's Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory.