The pathology would be partly linked to a genetic dysfunction that disrupts the assimilation of glucose by the brain.
- Alzheimer’s disease affects 900,000 people in France
- Several studies are conducted to determine the impact of lifestyle on the disease
- It is the impact of lifestyle on glucose metabolism that could be in question
Food, physical exercise, sleep: what if all these criteria were risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease? The impact of our lifestyle on the risk of dementia is the subject of various studies. In the specialist journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, American researchers find that it may be one of the causes of pathology. This would result in a defect in the assimilation of glucose by the brain cells.
Cell-scale analysis
To reach this conclusion, researchers at Brigham Young University, located in Utah, analyzed the RNA sequences taken from the brains of 240 patients who died of Alzheimer’s disease. They were interested in the genetic expression of cells of the nervous system during two types of metabolism: that of glucose and that of ketones. The first corresponds to the destruction of carbohydrates to create energy and the second also corresponds to the production of energy, when the insulin level is low and we burn more fat. It is this process that led to the creation of the ketogenic diet: high in fat and low in carbohydrates, it is supposed to help us lose weight.
An inability to use glucose
Genetic analysis of the brain of these patients with Alzheimer’s shows that this last type of metabolism is not disturbed by the pathology. In contrast, the researchers found a dysfunction in glucose metabolism. “This discovery is important because the brain is like a hybrid machine, it has the ability to find its energy either in glucose or in ketones, but in the brains affected by Alzheimer’s that we have observed, it appears that there is a fundamental genetic deficiency in the brain’s ability to use glucose“, summarize the researchers. Benjamin Bikman, professor of physiology and main author of this study, compares this phenomenon to an image: “the body swims in a sea of glucose but the brain is unable to use it.“He says it’s even getting worse as the brain becomes more and more dependent on ketones, but our diets are more high in glucose. One of his theories is that treatment with ketones could support the brain function and slow cognitive decline. This is not the first study to look at the role of glucose in Alzheimer’s disease, but it is the first to identify this phenomenon at the cellular level. Benjamin Bikman points out that today we often speak of the pathology as the result of insulin resistance in the brain, or even type 3 diabetes.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is linked to the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain, which causes neuron degeneration. It results in memory and executive function disorders, problems of orientation in time and space, and sometimes even language disorders. According to Insermit affects approximately 900,000 people in France, the majority of whom are over the age of 80.
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