The article didn't say how A1C is related to fasting glucose levels.
2
Good thing that we have AI to save us-- 50% of the population will have diabetes or high levels in the next 5 years. And the African American/Hispanic and Native Americans are twice as likely to become sick and are NOE the most obese and the most underinsured. It will be worse than AIDS since this will be everyone. This 50-year "Wellness" biz has done us in.
2
Are there studies about the best and worst blood sugar testing readers? As a Type 2 sufferer I have on many occasions had continuing high readings at my awakening test (140's to 180's) only to have a three month A1C reading of 6.0 to 6.5. I only check once a day per my doctor's recommendation.
2
A1C blood test should be routine for all people who are overweight. Finally, after a few years of neuropathy and extreme pain, finally, the neurologist ordered an A1C test. My results show I'm pre-diabetic. I'm now keeping a food diary, looking for foods that cause a high glucose spike and foods that cause a more modest glucose spike. I'm losing weight, going to a gym to get regular exercise, and my goal is to get my A1C level back to normal.
Had this test been ordered five years ago, perhaps I could have avoided a whole lot of intense pain.
7
This has been evident for many many years. I think it is ignored because there are legal implications related to people in cognitive decline...
1
Just another reason to take junk like sugar out of your diet.
9
Another study, be scared, be very scared of this, that and the other. Soon there will be another study with opposite results but findings of something else that will harm you. I think stress and your genes will be the biggest factors in any disease process but that's just me.
3
Exercise -- 30 minutes BRISK walking (all that most oldsters can manage) a few flights of stairs thrown in... will help moderate one's blood sugar. More impt for diabetes 2 than for LDL cholesterol control. And lose the weight.. One may not be able to reverse the diabetes 2 but one can control the blood sugar which should never be above 6.9 on the A1C. Why you ask?
Well retinal changes -- macular edema, lipids in the macula can both occur... and laser and avastin can be tried to alleviate th problem.. but case nothing worked as well a the second knee replacement-- I can walk briskly again.... all the way across Central Park for the first time in 12 years. And the vision in the affected eye has markely improved-- no laser, no avastin -- we tried those long ago with minimal improvement.
I am part of a long term study in memory / blood is taken.. Researchers are looking at the A1C as well as other factors. No doubt about it -- we get old. My mentally alert 101 yr. old aunt lives with her dog, eats cake if it's in the house at breakfast, has maintained the same body weight for years; was vigorous until about 93. (No real disease-- old, deaf.) Many of us are not so lucky. Her own mother was senile at 84; died at 91.
8
A1C should never be above 5.9 not 6.9(as you incorrectly stated) and thats still too high .A1C shouldn't really be over 5.4
4
Those are levels for people who don't have diabetes.
I would like to see how this holds for type I diabetes (since that is a much more extreme blood sugar control issue.) Type II diabetes is milder and easily undertreated for longer periods of time.
2
According to the brief study referenced, the decline is minor. However, as blood sugar problems increase, i.e., diabetics and pre-diabetics, the rate of cognitive decline increases quite a lot.
The researchers controlled for BMI, age, cholesterol levels, and many other health issues but they didn't control for change of mental habits. For instance, reading less or retiring from a job where much thinking was required.
2
Not a diabetic but have high A1C (6.1%) and high glucose (175). Been researching how to get those 2 under control and everything points to a low fat diet and exercise. Ugh!:( But got to do it I guess.:)
2
Definitely not a LOW fat diet and while exercise is good for you, it doesn't really help with blood glucose control. I've reversed my T2 diabetes by going on a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet. I'm pretty strict about my carb levels to the point where I'm on a ketogenic diet. My latest A1C was 4.8, and I've been reversed since January 2014. A blood glucose reading of 175 means it's doing damage -- damage starts at around 140. Take a look at www. dietdoctor.com and learn more about lchf and how well people are doing on it -- the information you need on this site costs nothing.
19
Lee Fleming is right -- same for me. I dropped from high-5s back to 4.8 with a high-fat, low carb and moderate protein diet. I'm also near-vegan, and that means lots of salads with avocado, and fresh veggies, but low carbs, i.e. no oats, rice, potatoes, etc.
12
Fleming and Long are on point; I, too, have embraced the LCHF lifestyle for the past year, lost fat, and A1C is at 5.0. Nothing else could do that for me prior to this change, and I feel better at 52 than I did at 32. Just get rid of all the carbohydrates and sugars. The old "low-fat" diets have made a lot of food companies and their paid scientists very wealthy, and put the unsuspecting public on a huge 50 year experiment that has sickened thousands.
9
I just read the study. With an n=5,189 any correlation p values will be off the charts. p values (reporting "statistical significance") are inflated in studies with large n's. We then took at "effect sizes" which are reported in this study in terms of standard deviation differences. The "effect sizes" are surprisingly small considering the statistical power of the very large numbers of subjects in the study.
6
Based upon various sugar-related researches, Dr. Dale Bredesen of UCLA classifies two sugar-causal Alzheimer’s; one inflammation caused by sugar-molecule binding to proteins, and the other inflammation caused by deficit of glucose to be taken into the brain due to insuline resistance. He says both case increase amyloid plaque. Insuline resistance is not only worsens type-2 diabetes but also causes amyloid plaque increase.
18
Exactly!
"...the underlying mechanism is still unknown." This very brief article doesn't indicate if the subject paper speculates at all. But there sure are some pretty good theoretical mechanisms. The inability of brain cells to metabolize glucose because of insulin resistance, which is created by high blood sugar, Is the leading candidate in my mind. The whole amyloid plaque thing is just a red herring; the plaques may be just a byproduct of the brain trying to repair the damage.
6
'The inability of brain cells to metabolize glucose because of insulin resistance, which is created by high blood sugar, Is the leading candidate in my mind.'
Not so, newt. This is a common urban myth, You're putting the cart before the horse. Insulin resistance is usually NOT caused by high blood sugar. Rather, insulin resistance causes persistently high blood sugar.
If our blood sugar spikes after a meal and stays high, then this is a sign we have developed insulin resistance – not the other way around.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-d...
3
Colenso:
You are totally confused. I didn't say," Insulin resistance is caused by high blood sugar.". Dr. Bredesen and many neuroscientists say," Inability of brain cells to intake blood sugar into brain due to insuline resistance."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712873/
Some numbers regarding blood glucose levels would made this story worth reading.
22
Right, how high of a level is tied to a decline? Is something ordinarily considered to be in the normal range a risk factor? I learned nothing reading this article that wasn't already contained in the title.
8
Great guidelines here: https://www.facebook.com/diabetesuniversity/
Appears to be meaningless without actual numbers. At what number is the loss of memory considered to be effected?
11
I am 71, I eat sugar all the time; I am fluent in two languages, French and English: maybe I am the exception to this study.
As long as you don't have diabetes, your body should keep your sugar levels within a tight range. Sounds like you are healthy.
7
Bonjour Jennie, actually I DO have type II diabetes; it is probably due to excessive weight (188 cm 113) kg. My BP and all other vitals are within acceptible limits because of the perscription drugs I take .I am trying to get down to 100 kg or less; it has been too cold and stormy to even venture outside much less bicycle. I live in the far Southwest corner of France on the Atlantic Ocean, in the city of Capbreton, about 100 metres from the beach. Although I am 71; I feel like 40 )))) Ciao
You are just 71... If you loo at the statistical likeliness of having Alzheimers/dementia you will see it goes up annually after a certain age. Around 85 , about 1/3 of the population is impaired by age 90 -- closer to 50%.
Not sure what you mean by you eat sugar all the time?BTW all carbohydrates metabolize as sugar.....
People can be outliers (lucky) or perhaps you consume less sugar than you think you do... (three teaspoons in an expresso about 50 calories is nothing compared to the amountin a cocacola -180 cal or sugar or a glass of orange/apple juice.
71 is still quite young...all things considered.. and perhaps you exercise daily because you like it or you have to walk places and that will even out your blood sugar... more so than diet with no exercise. BTW.
2
As a diabetic I would love to see more about this. Maybe a follow-up study.
5
I have type II diabetes, but with medication everything is under control.
For now, maybe, but not for long.
4
A lot of people are reversing type 2 diabetes with simple lifestyle changes. This has to be a change in lifestyle, not a temporary diet. Unfortunately, the powers that be still claim diabetes is irreversible.
1
Did they control for diet? Its perfectly plausible that memory decline increases the appetite for sugar rather than the sugar causing the memory decline.
8
Many of the variables that were included in the study (hypertension, high cholesterol, increased BMI/weight, smoking and elevated A1c) are found in Metabolic Syndrome (can occur at any age). A high blood sugar over a long period of time will trigger the other variables (some or all), which usually causes inflammation and also mental fog/decreased cognition. The body's ability to metabolize sugar decreases as we age which is a recipe for disaster if combined with a poor diet high in carbs and lack of exercise. Eat less, eat well and move.
15
Great point!
1