Too much sugar could be at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers from the University of Bath have found that excess glucose causes damage to a particular enzyme that’s involved in the inflammation response to the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

This adds to previous research that showed that those with diabetes have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but the researchers have now established that those who consume a lot of sugar but do not have diabetes are at an increased risk, too.

Researchers studied brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer’s disease, and found that in the early stages of Alzheimer’s an enzyme called macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) can be damaged by glycation, which happens with a higher consumption of sugar.

The researchers found that as the disease develops, the glycation of these enzymes increases.

This shows that the enzyme, which should help to protect us from developing Alzheimer’s, is negatively affected by consuming too much sugar.

Professor Jean van de Elsen explained: ‘Normally MIF would be part of the immune response to the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain, and we think that because sugar damage reduces some MIF functions and completely inhibits others that this could be a tipping point that allows Alzheimer’s to develop.’

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/24/alzheimers-disease-might-be-caused-by-eating-too-much-sugar-6469706/