Early Diabetes Signs Often Missed in Alzheimer's Patients | WPN World People News

Undiagnosed prediabetes and diabetes are common in people with early Alzheimer's disease, a researcher says.

Expert made the finding when enrolling people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease into a study last year. The study's goal was to determine if resveratrol, a compound found in red grapes and red wine, might change blood sugar (glucose) levels in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

The number of people with glucose intolerance (prediabetes) was much higher than expected. Many people didn't know they were prediabetic, and these are individuals who already get the best medical care.

To join the study, patients were first given a fasting glucose tolerance test, and then retested two hours after eating. The blood sugar level increases during digestion, but the pancreas produces insulin to lower it. A high sugar level after two hours reveals glucose intolerance (prediabetes) or diabetes if the level is very high.

Five of 128 patients (4 percent) had impaired fasting glucose levels. Meanwhile, 2 percent had findings consistent with type 2 diabetes. Of the 125 patients who completed the two-hour test, 30 percent had glucose intolerance while 13 percent had results consistent with diabetes. The findings showed that 43 percent of the patients had impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes at two hours.

Study results raise a number of questions: "How does glucose intolerance or diabetes lead to [Alzheimer's disease]? Does the inflammation associated with Alzheimer's trigger glucose intolerance? Or do both events create a vicious cycle of Alzheimer's and glucose intolerance?"

Although the study wasn't designed to answer these questions, it may offer important clues. Although a glucose tolerance test is not typically ordered by neurologists, this result suggests that perhaps we should test all our patients with early Alzheimer's. It's a simple, inexpensive study that reveals critical health information.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services