Diabetes and poor diet can trigger Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, warns BUAP researcher

May 28 2015

For several years a researcher was dedicated to feed rodents in his laboratory with a high caloric content and glucose concentrations, which caused them diabetes, and by scientifically assessing what occurred in animals he observed that "diabetes and poor diet is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's or Parkinson's," warns Samuel Treviño Mora from the Meritorious University of Puebla (BUAP) in Mexico.

The scientist at the Faculty of Chemistry (FCQ) reproduces human consumption in biological models with different genetic conditions. He feeds the animals with a high caloric content, then analyzes the metabolic disorder in the body, triglycerides, insulin resistance, obesity and overweight development which is triggered in type II diabetes.

By measuring the effects on the brain the analysis determined the existence of inflammation and neurodegeneration in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, important areas for the proper functioning of the short and long term memory. "With a diet based on high carbohydrates neurodegenerative conditions arise associated with Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases," says Trevino Mora.

"The diet of Mexicans is based on a high caloric content, junk food and poor implementation of foods that are we think are healthy like large quantities of cereals, drinks with high portions of sucrose or light foods containing fructose as a sweetener ".

The animal model allows prediction conditions. A month of life for a rodent equivalents on average to seven years in a human. In a person only in a period of seven to 14 years neuronal degeneration and chronic inflammation occur, both which affects the development of cognitive processes.

A child growing up overweight or obese when reaches adolescence may begin to develop diabetes and if this condition is not regulated, it is likely to generate brain damage, the same happens with an adult, if a poor diet is maintained at age 30 could have these same features and reduce labor productivity in a very short time.

"We are talking about an aggression from childhood that causes premature aging of the brain, looking similar to that observed in patients from 70 to 80 years of age, and occurring currently in people between 50 and 60," says Trevino Mora.

He adds that since childhood obesity could have a direct association with poor learning and consolidation of information, as well as problems retaining knowledge, generating it and, in the long-term, Alzheimer's.

Carbohydrate-based diets alter the conditions of brain regulation in people; consumption (orexigenis) and lack of appetite (anorexigenis), when there is no energy balance the body begins to lose this regulation and generate pathologies like Alzheimer's.

Samuel Treviño Mora also works on the creation of a cellular device that measures the levels of glucose without a blood sample. He is developing sensors that record the voltage created by the flow of glucose on the skin, which are included in a ring-shaped device.

"The idea is to create a phone application so that the patient has a constant measurement of their blood glucose levels without pricking their fingers," concludes the specialist. (Agencia ID)