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Diabetes May Increase Alzheimer's Risk
May 17, 2004 -- People with diabetes may face an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.
The finding means that preventing and treating diabetes is more important than ever before. It's sobering news to people with diabetes, but there's a silver lining. The link between the two diseases offers a major new clue in the search for new Alzheimer's treatments.
"If we can understand how this works, it will help not just people with diabetes but all people with Alzheimer's disease," Neil Buckholtz, PhD, head of the dementias in aging branch of the National Institute on Aging, tells WebMD.
So much of Alzheimer's disease is out of a person's control. For example, Alzheimer's risk increases with age -- and there's not much we can do about that. Doctors and patients need things they can do. The link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease points toward just such "modifiable" Alzheimer's risk, Buckholtz suggests.
Monks, Nuns, and Priests
The study focused on an unusual group of people: 824 Catholic nuns, brothers, and priests more than 55 years old. Researcher Zoe Arvanitakis, MD, and colleagues at Chicago's Rush University followed the study participants for an average of 5.5 years.
At the beginning of the study, the 127 participants who had diabetes got lower scores on tests of mental function. By the end of the study, 31 of these people developed Alzheimer's disease. Participants with diabetes were 65% more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without diabetes.
When those with diabetes came down with Alzheimer's disease, their perceptual speed -- the ability needed to tell, for example, whether two strings of numbers are the same or different -- declined faster than those who developed Alzheimer's disease but did not have diabetes. However, other mental functions -- such as the ability to remember specific life events -- did not decline any faster.
It's not entirely clear what's going on, Arvanitakis says. But more data is on the way.
Since all participants have agreed to brain donation at death, we will have the opportunity to examine the pathological basis of why diabetes is linked to cognitive decline," Arvanitakis tells WebMD.
This isn't the first time researchers have linked diabetes to Alzheimer's disease, says Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University. Gandy serves as vice chair of the Alzheimer's Association's medical and scientific advisory committee.
"There's an evolving body of thought over the last three to five years linking Alzheimer's disease to a variety of diseases that have some things in common: high levels of lipids, atherosclerosis risk, and high cholesterol," Gandy tells WebMD. "It is known that diabetes increases the risk for atherosclerosis, but it has been a bit more difficult to link diabetes itself to Alzheimer's disease. But things are getting clearer -- and the current study helps show the association."
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