Dementia currently affects millions of people around the world, and the disease is only becoming more prevalent.
With no cures available, early detection remains the best hope to improve patients’ quality of life.
A doctor recently revealed how her father’s intense cravings for carbohydrates and sweets emerged as early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Laura Fortner, took to TikTok to describe how her father’s unusual eating habits were actually indicators of insulin, a condition linked to the development of Alzheimer’s.
Dr Fortner noticed her father’s unusual habits two decades before he was diagnosed with dementia
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She recalled her father’s daily consumption of potato chips and persistent need for Oreo cookies after meals, twenty years before he was diagnosed with dementia.
“He was never satisfied with a meal,” she explained, noting that the habits persisted for about two decades before his diagnosis, at 72.
Dr Fortner’s father passed away last year following a rapid decline after her brother’s death.
The link between insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s is highlighted on Alzheimer’s Research UK, which confirms that people with the disease often show signs of insulin resistance in their brains.
According to the research organisation, insulin resistance can trigger changes in the brain associated with dementia.
More specifically, insulin resistance can lead to the accumulation of the proteins amyloid and tau in the brain.
These proteins are believed to damage brain cells and contribute to the development of brain decline.
However, understanding the exact relationship between treating diabetes and dementia risk remains challenging.
Symptoms of dementia can appear two decades before a diagnosis
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“This is because people who have diabetes often have other risk factors for dementia too, like high blood pressure and cholesterol,” Alzheimer’s Research UK stated.
These additional risk factors can independently contribute to cognitive decline, several studies have shown.
According to the NHS, the best way to reduce the risk of dementia is to follow a healthy lifestyle.
This should include a healthy diet, regular exercise, no smoking, and keeping alcohol intake to a minimum.
