{"id":1299,"date":"2025-04-17T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/?p=1299"},"modified":"2025-03-06T18:59:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T23:59:04","slug":"is-there-a-link-between-diabetes-and-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/is-there-a-link-between-diabetes-and-alzheimers\/","title":{"rendered":"Is There a Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but controlling your blood sugar, exercise, and a healthy diet may help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there is a lot of research suggesting there is a connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s, those connections are not yet fully understood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all of the various studies confirm there is a connection, but many of the ongoing studies do suggest that people with diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, are at higher risk of eventually developing Alzheimer’s dementia or any of the other dementias.<\/span><\/p>\n

Current research is still unclear as to whether taking steps to prevent or control diabetes may help reduce your risk of cognitive decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the Connection?<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes can cause several complications, one of the most critical is damage to your blood vessels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes is considered a risk factor for vascular dementia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vascular dementia occurs when there is brain damage that is often caused by reduced or blocked blood flow to the brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people with diabetes have changes in their brains and these are hallmarks of both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some researchers feel strongly that each condition fuels the damage caused by the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is ongoing research that is aimed at trying to better understand the link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes.<\/span><\/p>\n

That link may occur because of the complex ways that type 2 diabetes affects the ability of the brain and other body tissues to utilize sugar (glucose) and respond to insulin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes may also experience developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI).<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a condition in which people experience more thinking (cognitive) and memory problems than are usually present in normal aging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some research indicates that diabetes may increase the risk of MCI worsening because of dementia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mild cognitive impairment may precede or accompany Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.<\/span><\/p>\n

As researchers continue to examine the connections between diabetes and Alzheimer’s, they’re also studying potential ways to prevent or treat both diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reducing your risk<\/span><\/p>\n

Working with your health care team to prevent diabetes or manage your diabetes is an effective strategy to avoid or reduce many of the complications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diabetes prevention or effective diabetes management may also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preventing diabetes or managing it successfully may help you avoid other complications, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n

Bone and joint problems<\/span>
\nEye damage<\/span>
\nHeart disease<\/span>
\nKidney disease<\/span>
\nNerve damage, which may cause pain in your feet or hands (diabetic neuropathy)<\/span>
\nDigestive problems (gastroparesis)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gastroparesis is a condition that affects the normal spontaneous movement of the muscles (motility) in your stomach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under normal circumstances, strong muscular contractions propel food through your digestive tract.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steps to prevent or manage diabetes and avoid potential complications include:<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow your health care team’s recommendations about the most appropriate plan for monitoring your blood glucose, cholesterol level, and blood pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eat healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat milk and cheese.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re overweight, eat a healthy diet and exercise to lose weight. Obesity can lead to diabetes and other health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examine your feet daily for sores.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take any prescribed medications on schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on research, evidence suggests that in addition to diet and activity changes that lead to weight loss, they are especially effective in reducing diabetes risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even small steps can make a big difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

People with blood sugar levels slightly above normal (prediabetes) can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than 50 percent through exercise.<\/span><\/p>\n

30 minutes per day and five days a week can result in a little as a 5 to 7 percent loss in body weight.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, for a 200-pound person, that weight loss translates to 10 to 14 pounds.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Diabetes may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but controlling your blood sugar, exercise, and a healthy diet may help….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Is There a Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's? - Diabetes","description":"Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's Diabetes may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's, but controlling your blood sugar, exercise, and a healthy diet"},"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diabetes","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mickeylieberman.com\/diabetes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}