Thursday Blog- Alcohol and Sugar vs. Alzheimer's

Inside the Dementia Epidemic- A daughter's memoir- Martha Stettinius 

Alcohol and Sugar vs. Alzheimer's

Since the process of Dementia and the different stages of Alzheimer's makes up all of this book, I thought a blog about the stage Martha's mom is currently in, is appropriate for this week's blog. By the end of 2005, Judy moved into Stage Five of Alzheimer's disease- moderately severe cognitive decline. As with most people in Stage Five, Martha's mom still remembers details from her life, and she doesn't need help eating or using the toilet, but she can't remember what day it is, she needs more prompting in the shower to clean herself, and she could use more help than the assisted living facility can provide to dress appropriately. She wore the same pants every time Martha would visit. Before Judy was admitted into the assisted living facility, Martha talked about how her mother had a lot of problems with alcohol and alcoholism. Martha stated, "Mom told me years ago that her doctor had encouraged her to give up teaching at age forty-nine because her depression and anxiety were getting worse. Two years before that she'd put herself into treatment for alcoholism, and she needed a chance to work on her sobriety. She'd been a heavy drinker most evenings since before I was born, possibly to self-medicate". Looking back, I wonder if alcoholism is a factor in getting Alzheimer's. I know Alzheimer's is a disease but I wonder if alcohol increases or decreases the chance of getting it.

I found an online article that briefly reviews biological evidence suggesting that alcohol use may be associated with Alzheimer's disease. It states that some of the detrimental effects of heavy alcohol use on brain function are similar to those observed with Alzheimer's disease. Although alcohol may be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, it is difficult for experts to study this relationship because of similarities between alcohol and Alzheimer's. Epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between alcohol use and Alzheimer's disease but have not provided strong evidence to suggest that alcohol use influences the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Further research is needed before the effect of alcohol use on Alzheimer's is understood fully, because alcohol's effect on cognition, brain disorders, and brain chemistry share some features with Alzheimer disease's effects on these three areas. Heavy alcohol consumption has both immediate and long-term detrimental effects on the brain and neuropsychological functioning. Heavy drinking causes shrinkage, or atrophy (degeneration of cells) of the brain, which is a critical determinant of neurodegenerative changes and cognitive decline in aging. Below is a picture of a normal person's brain, an Alzheimer's brain, and a person with alcoholism. My source is also in the link below with more information.

Alcoholism vs Alzheimer's

Another thing I wonder is if sugar has an impact on Alzheimer's disease as well. When Martha went to visit her mother one day, they went out to lunch. When they ordered dessert, Judy ordered the biggest sundae on the menu with five scoops and three sauces. Martha did not discover for quite sometime that her mother's dementia might have more to blame on the sugar than the fat. But then, her mother's deterioration has outstripped the startling new research that implicates pre-diabetic blood sugar levels in dementia. Another online source I found states, the connection between sugar and Alzheimer's was first introduced in 2005, when the disease was called "type 3 diabetes". At that time researchers discovered that our brain produces insulin necessary for the survival of brain cells. Previous research has also shown diabetics have a doubled risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Now, researchers are warning that Alzheimer's disease appears to be linked to insulin resistance. As reported by the Huffington Post:“Brain scans revealed that greater insulin resistance was linked to less sugar in key parts of the brain, often affected by Alzheimer's. Insulin is the hormone that helps your body use sugar from the foods you eat, and either converts it into energy or stores it away. Insulin resistance is when your body's response to a regular level of the hormone is reduced, creating a need for more insulin. This is important with Alzheimer’s disease, because over the course of the disease there is a progressive decrease in the amount of blood sugar used in certain brain regions. Those regions end up using less and less." Below is the source I used with more information. 

Sugar vs Alzheimer's