TOM NAUGHTON ON "THE ALZHEIMER'S PROJECT"

Tom Naughton, writer, producer and star of the movie "Fat Head" wrote a blog post about the documentary "The Alzheimer's Project" and shares his feelings about his father, who has AD. 

From Tom: 

I’ve read quite a bit about Alzheimer’s in the past year, and I know now that my dad was a walking bundle of risk factors.  His mother died of the disease, although she was in her mid-eighties, not early seventies.  He took Lipitor for 20 years.  Despite being touted as wonder drug that may even help with Alzheimer’s, the truth is that memory problems are a known side-effect of statins.  Dr. Duane Graveline, a former NASA astronaut, suffered bouts of extreme confusion and memory loss until he identified Lipitor as the culprit and stopped taking it.

(And by the way, Dad still ended up with stents put in his arteries, which were 98 percent blocked.  So much for the wonders of statins.)

Dad was also a heavy smoker until he quit at age 58 – and then, like many people who give up nicotine, he developed a fondness for sweets and starches.  He gained a lot of weight.  He suffered from sleep apnea.  He showed all the signs of someone developing insulin resistance.
Which brings me back to The Alzheimer’s Project.  In one episode, they named insulin resistance as a major risk factor.  Diabetics are four times more likely to develop the disease, and people who are insulin-resistant are at three times the usual risk.  Many doctors are now referring to Alzheimer’s as Type III Diabetes.


To read his full post, click here.

ALZHEIMER'S IS REALLY JUST 'TYPE-3' DIABETES, NEW RESEARCH SHOWS

(NaturalNews) Emerging research on the widespread degenerative brain disease known as Alzheimer's suggests that this prevalent form of dementia is actually a type of diabetes. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, a recent study out of Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) confirms that Alzheimer's is marked by brain insulin resistance and corresponding inflammation, a condition that some researchers are now referring to as type-3 diabetes.

Read the full article here.

DR. LARRY MCCLEARY INTERVIEWED BY HANK GARNER OF "MY LOW CARB JOURNEY"

Here is a recent podcast from Hank Garner of My Low Carb Journey.  In this 53 minute podcast, Hank interviews Dr. Larry McCleary, neurosurgeon and author of Feed Your Brain, Lose Your Belly, about the connections between eating high carb and the development of Alzheimer's Disease.

There are a few different topics discussed in this podcast, all on the topic of eating low carb to feed the brain.

Of particular interest is the research being done using an inhaled version of insulin that goes directly to the brain to enhance memory and reverse Alzheimer's symptoms!

Listen and read listeners' comments by clicking here. 


Related Posts: 
KETONE BODIES PRODUCED BY A LOW-CARB DIET ARE HIGH OCTANE BRAIN FOOD 
NEUROLOGIST DR. LARRY MCCLEARY ON HEALTHY LOW-CARB BRAIN FOODS AND TYPE III DIABETES

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE MAY BE 'TYPE 3' DIABETES - DAILY NEWS CENTRAL

Could Alzheimer's be a form of diabetes? That's the tantalizing suggestion from a new study that finds insulin production in the brain declines as Alzheimer's disease advances. "Insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer's disease," senior researcher Suzanne M. de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and a professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, said in a prepared statement.

"And many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer's, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling. This demonstrates that the disease is most likely a neuroendocrine disorder, or another type of diabetes," she added.

The discovery that the brain produces insulin at all is a recent one, and de la Monte's group also found that brain insulin produced by patients with Alzheimer's disease tends to fall below normal levels.

Now her group has discovered that brain levels of insulin and its related cellular receptors fall precipitously during the early stages of Alzheimer's. Insulin levels continue to drop progressively as the disease becomes more severe -- adding to evidence that Alzheimer's might be a new form of diabetes, she said.

In addition, the Brown University team found that low levels of acetylcholine -- a hallmark of Alzheimer's -- are directly linked to this loss of insulin and insulin-like growth factor function in the brain.

The report appears in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Insulin Receptors

In its study, de la Monte's team autopsied the brain tissue of 45 patients diagnosed with different degrees of Alzheimer's called "Braak Stages." They compared those tissues to samples taken from individuals with no history of the disease.

The team analyzed insulin and insulin receptor function in the frontal cortex of the brain, a major area affected by Alzheimer's. They found that as the severity of Alzheimer's increased, the levels of insulin receptors and the brain's ability to respond to insulin decreased.

"In the most advanced stage of Alzheimer's, insulin receptors were nearly 80 percent lower than in a normal brain," de la Monte said.

In addition, the researchers found two abnormalities related to insulin in Alzheimer's. First, levels of insulin dropped as the disease progressed. Second, insulin and its related protein -- insulin-related growth factor-I -- lose the ability to bind to cell receptors. This creates a resistance to the insulin growth factors, causing the cells to malfunction and die.

"We're able to show that insulin impairment happens early in the disease," de la Monte said. "We're able to show it's linked to major neurotransmitters responsible for cognition. We're able to show it's linked to poor energy metabolism, and it's linked to abnormalities that contribute to the tangles characteristic of advanced Alzheimer's disease. This work ties several concepts together and demonstrates that Alzheimer's disease is quite possibly a Type 3 diabetes," she said.

Clinical Potential

One expert believes declining insulin levels may be an important feature of Alzheimer's, but not the whole story.

"There is now increasing evidence primarily from observational studies that diabetes, its predecessor metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance are implicated in increasing risk for Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Hugh C. Hendrie. He is a professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders at Indiana University Center for Aging Research, in Indianapolis.

This study adds support to these biological hypotheses and has perhaps treatment implications for the use of certain types of anti-diabetes drugs that influence insulin resistance, Hendrie said.

"There are many other factors also implicated in Alzheimer's disease, such as hypertension and
inflammation, so I think it's a bit of a stretch at the moment to describe Alzheimer's disease as an endocrinological disorder like diabetes," he said.

Another expert thinks that insulin and insulin-like growth factors may be the key to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's.

"We have shown that insulin-like growth factors regulate learning and memory," said Douglas N. Ishii, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

"We had shown that by blocking insulin-like growth factors in the brain you block learning and memory."

When Ishii's group treated rats with insulin-like growth factors, the researchers found that the intervention prevented the loss of both learning and memory. "In addition, we showed that insulin normally regulates brain weight in adults," he said.

"The clinical potential is that by injecting insulin-like growth factors into patients, one might be able to prevent the loss of learning and memory," Ishii said. "In particular, we have a paper coming out showing that insulin-like growth factors can not only prevent the loss of learning and memory, but prevent the loss of a protein in the brain. This may lead to the slowing down of the progression of Alzheimer's."

Read the full article here.

NITRITES AND NITRATES IN FOOD MAY CAUSE ALZHEIMER'S

A recent blog post by Dr. Mary Newport:

On April 7, 2011, a former surgeon general and Dr. Suzanne de la Monte appeared on the Dr. Oz Show entitled, "A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Alzheimer's Disease," (can be watched on his website) where she presented her important research. She is the doctor who coined the term "type 3 diabetes" in reference to Alzheimer's disease.She found by accident that giving a nitrosamine compound called streptozotocin, used to deliberately produce diabetes, caused Alzheimer's in her lab mice. She learned that the brain produces its own insulin.

She further found that this compound causes production of toxic lipids in the liver that cross the blood brain barrier and damage certain cells such that the brain develops insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. Nitrites and nitrates, found in very many processed foods, are nitrosamine compounds and could very well explain the epidemics of Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes, MS, Parkinson's and ALS, along with other neurodegenerative diseases that have insulin resistance, decreased glucose uptake as part of the process. These diseases have all been on the increase as processed foods have taken over our diets. I will add Dr. de la Monte's references to the website http://www.coconutketones.com/, in the very near future. These nitrites and nitrates are in most bacon, ham and other meats, deli meats, whether pre-packaged or cut at the counter, processed cheeses, cereals, breads, pretzels, crackers, white flour and anything that contains white flour, certain beers, scotch and some other whiskeys.

Now something that has caught my attention for newborns and children: I found one of these offending compounds, thiamine mononitrate, in the Carnation infant formulas, some of the jarred baby foods, especially the junior combinations, cereals and other infant prepared foods such as macaroni and cheese. The government requires that certain vitamins such as thiamine are added to enrich foods that have been stripped of these nutrients by processing, most notably white flour and other grains. Thiamine mononitrate is a synthetic source of vitamin B1, rather than a naturally occurring vitamin, and is added to very many foods. Just look at the ingredients labels. Most people eat something with thiamine mononitrate in it for nearly every meal. Naturally occurring Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is usually water soluble, meaning that if you eat an excess of it, you will pass it out in the urine; however, thiamine mononitrate is fat soluble and the excess accumulates in the liver and fat cells. The FDA regulations (21 CFR 184.1878) say that thiamine mononitrate may be used in food "with no limitation other than good manufacturing practice" and that it "may be used in infant formula". These compounds could slowly kill off insulin producing cells in the brain and other organs, and when enough cells have been effected symptoms will begin to emerge.

This could explain the classic development of autism in children at 1 1/2 to 2 years of age who were previously thought to be normal. And in Alzheimers' it is believed that the disease process begins at least 10-20 years before symptoms appear. Animal studies need to be done to determine if thiamine mononitrate produces Alzheimer's disease, autism, type 2 diabetes and the other diseases mentioned above. In the meantime, it would behoove us to read the labels and eliminate anything from the diet that includes nitrosamines, nitrites, nitrates; look for these words alone or in combination with other words, such as thiamine mononitrate.

What is left for us to eat? Stay away from packaged and other processed foods and eat whole foods: organic whenever possible, vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, goat milk and cheeses, nuts, legumes, whole grains (without added nitrates) grass fed beef, free range chicken, "natural" deli meats that have nothing added (they can be frozen to prolong use). I thought we were adhering very closely to a whole food diet until learning that many of the foods we were eating, such as deli meats and some "whole grain" breads and cereals, contain nitrites or nitrates. This could explain some of the deterioration we have seen in spite of everything else we are doing. Most important to our newest generation, mothers can avoid this problem by breastfeeding their babies for as long as possible.

Nitrites and nitrates are just one group of compounds we need to worry about for our newborns and toddlers. Also, consuming foods with medium chain fatty acids, such as coconut oil and MCT oil, can at least partly bypass the problem of insulin resistance by providing an alternative fuel to glucose for brain cells. And how could this possibly be related to the herpes simplex issue that I have written about? I found a 1977 article from the lab of Dr. George Cahill, Jr. ("Studies of Streptozotocin-induced insulitis and diabetes", Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 74(6): 2485-2489, June 1977), in which he used streptozotocin to produce diabetes in mice by destroying the beta cells of the pancreas-- an unexpected finding was an increased production of a type C virus in the beta cells that survived. Could it be that the virus is involved as part of the process that destroys the cell after exposure to nitrosamines, or is an opportunistic infection that takes over the damaged cells, which further complicates the Alzheimer’s disease process? The bottom line is to avoid any foods that contain nitrites or nitrates or any ingredient in which one of the words appears.

To read the article and comments, click here.

HOW TO CURE TYPE 2 DIABETES

Here is a video about Type 2 Diabetes.  No, it does not mention Alzheimer's Disease, but, as mentioned in yesterday's post, information about Diabetes is, by default, information about AD.

WHERE ARE YOU ON THE ROAD TO TYPE 2 DIABETES?

You might wonder why there is an article about Type 2 Diabetes on a site about Alzheimer's Disease Prevention and Treatment.  The reason is that many researchers are finding that there is a direct link between neurological disease, like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and ALS and the high carb diets that the typical American eats.  So an article about Diabetes is, by default, an article about Alzheimer's.

It's very important that a person at risk for Alzheimer's Disease stop the insanity and start eating low carb.  So here is an article written by Jacqueline A. Eberstein, R.N., who worked with the late Dr. Robert Atkins, and who still teaches about healthy low carb living through the Atkins Nutritional Approach:

The frightening statistics regarding the escalating rates of type 2 diabetes continue. Based on the 2010 US population 79 million of us over the age of 20 have pre-diabetes or diabetes. 

 Given these numbers I think it’s time for a primer on type 2 diabetes.

 It saddens me every time I read, as I often do, someone posting on a chat line that they have just been diagnosed with diabetes. They are surprised and upset. Some admit that diabetes runs in their family and they are overweight or obese. 

 I ask myself why are they surprised? We must do a better job educating people that type 2 diabetes is almost always preventable. Just because you have a family history of diabetes does not mean you can’t avoid it. You can but you need facts, a strategy and the earlier you start to prevent diabetes the better.

Much of the following information and more can be found in Atkins Diabetes Revolution co-authored by me (Jacqueline Eberstein, R.N.) and Dr. Mary Vernon. This book is based on Dr. Atkins many years of practice diagnosing the stages of blood sugar imbalances that ultimately lead to diabetes and what to do about them.

Diabetes is a Nutritional Wear and Tear Disease

 You are not perfectly healthy and then suddenly have diabetes. There is a progression from insulin resistance (the first stage) to full blown diabetes. Over time the insulin producing cells in the pancreas will be permanently damaged. This progression can take years. Once enough of the beta cells are lost insulin is required. During those years you have the opportunity to protect your beta cells from burnout if you know you are at risk and choose to do something about it.

By the time you are diagnosed with diabetes you have been damaging your body for years. The latest numbers state that diabetes affects 25.8 million people (8.3% of the population). Of that number 7 million people already have diabetes but don’t know it. 

 Risk Factors for Diabetes: How Many Apply to You?

Obesity-The heavier you are the greater your risk. However, it is still possible to get diabetes even at a normal weight especially if you have a family history.

Diet-A diet high in poor-quality, high glycemic load carbohydrate foods can stress blood sugar and insulin ultimately causing diabetes.

Sedentary lifestyle- Being a couch potato increases insulin resistance especially if you have a genetic risk for diabetes. It also makes it harder to maintain a healthy weight as you age and lose lean mass.

Heredity-A history of diabetes on one side of your family increases your risk, both sides of the family is a double whammy. The sooner you take action to protect your insulin making cells the better. Don’t assume you’re safe if you don’t think you have a family history. Remember the many people who are undiagnosed. 

Ethnicity- African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders have a higher incidence of diabetes.

Gestation Diabetes-If you are a woman who has had gestational diabetes you’re risk of diabetes in the not so distant future is high. Not only can you harm yourself but your baby as well. Click here for more info.

Metabolic Syndrome (pre-diabetes)-Having 3 out of the 5 following signs means you already have pre-diabetes: high blood pressure, increased abdominal fat, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and higher than normal blood sugars. You can learn a lot more here.  Remember that having pre-diabetes means you are already damaging your body so take this diagnosis very seriously, please.

Elevated blood sugar-If your blood sugar is already “a bit high” but not yet in the official diabetic range you are at risk. Make those lifestyle changes now.

Abnormal lipids- High triglycerides and low HDL are major risk factors for diabetes. These occur when insulin levels are high.

High blood pressure- High blood pressure and high blood sugar go hand in hand. Each is a warning sign of the same metabolic imbalance that leads to diabetes.

Age- As we get older and our bodies have been stressed year after year our cells’ response to insulin or the body’s ability to produce an adequate amount is comprised. Dietary stress is an important contributor. Note that diabetes is occurring in kids, teens and young adults as never before because of the escalating rates of obesity in these age groups.

The Road to Type 2 Diabetes 

What eventually leads to diabetes begins with insulin resistance of cells especially liver, fat and muscle cells. Insulin resistance means that cells are unable to respond to insulin properly. Even people with a normal weight based on BMI can have insulin resistance if they have a genetic susceptibility to diabetes.

Here is the progression of insulin resistance to late stage type 2 diabetes as described by Dr. Robert Atkins.

1.  Insulin resistance of cells 

2. Insulin resistance with hyperinsulinism (the production of large amounts of insulin to control blood sugar levels) 

3.   Insulin resistance with hyperinsulinism and reactive hypoglycemia ( unstable blood sugar) 

4. Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinism with impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes)

5.  Type 2 diabetes with insulin resistance and high insulin production

6. Type 2 diabetes with low or virtually no insulin production     

It is important to remember that insulin is primarily stimulated by dietary carbohydrates. The same dietary carbohydrates that have been encouraged by US health authorities as the mainstay of a “healthy” diet. Given the results of this message (more obesity and more diabetes than ever) it is clear that this hasn’t worked except to benefit the food industry and drug companies. Keep in mind that once you have been diagnosed with diabetes there are a number of drugs your doctor will prescribe for you that you are expected to take for the rest of your life.

Recognizing a Diet Related Disorder

Moving through these stages takes time. Once stage 3 is reached and people become intolerant of carbs enough they develop an unstable blood sugar. Blood sugar highs and lows can occur a number of times during the day. The body’s stress response is called upon to normalize blood sugar, causing symptoms that affect quality of life or may require medication. Unfortunately, this stage is not recognized by many including the medical profession. Numerous symptoms that people seem to think are common are diet related.

This is what happens:

Carb consumption = increased blood sugar = increased insulin secretion = increased body fat = low blood sugar = low energy and mood swings = carbohydrate cravings 

Unstable blood sugar can cause many symptoms. Some of the more common are:

1. Irritability, headache or other symptoms before meals or if food is delayed

2. Symptoms relieved by eating

3. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

4. Slow starter in the morning

5. Wake with a headache

6. Numerous emotional symptoms-anxiety, worrying, mood swings, flashes of temper, etc.

7. Blurred vision, lightheadedness, tremors

8. Palpitations, irregular heart beats

9. Preoccupation with food esp. carbohydrate foods

10. Cravings

Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

A good prevention strategy is to avoid over-stressing your pancreatic beta cells-the cells that produce insulin. Since carbohydrate foods are the primary drivers of insulin it makes sense to control both the quality and quantity of carbohydrate foods. This will allow you to normalize your weight and save those vital pancreatic cells from burnout. Research done on properly designed restricted carbohydrate diets support this. This is also the way our ancestors ate long before the processed vegetable oils, fake unnatural fats and packaged foods became ubiquitous in the US diet.

Don’t wait until your doctor tells you are pre-diabetic. Remember your goal is to protect the insulin making cells in your pancreas before it is too late. 

  People with Diabetes Die Sooner from All Causes

Most people with type 2 diabetes die of cardiovascular disease. However, before CV disease takes a life a

person with diabetes can lose their eyesight, develop macular degeneration, get Alzheimer’s, lose limbs, suffer from painful nerve damage and require dialysis because of kidney failure.

People with diabetes are at a higher risk of a number of types of cancers as well as a shortened life span. Death can occur from any cause sooner in someone with diabetes than a person who does not have diabetes.

 Words of Advice

 I did not write this article to scare anyone unnecessarily but to give you facts and a strategy to avoid diabetes as I have. I have a family history of diabetes and had a severely unstable blood sugar in my early 20’s even though I was normal weight. My diet all of my life was high in carbs. I just couldn’t control them. It was in 1974 when I began working with Dr. Atkins that he recognized what was wrong with me and he made sure I knew what I could do about it. Since them I have followed an Atkins Lifestyle. I have him to thank for still being diabetes free. I want to pass that knowledge on to others. If you find this information to be useful please pass it on to family and friends.

If you have a family history of diabetes - restrict carbs.

If you have symptoms of an unstable blood sugar - restrict carbs.

If you have metabolic syndrome - restrict carbs. 

If you crave carbs or can’t control your intake - restrict carbs. 

The Solution

This is not the place to provide all of the info you need to learn about how to adopt a low carb plan. There is no short term solution. To learn how to make a permanent lifestyle change educate yourself fully about how to control your carb intake and find the correct amount of carbs to re-balance your metabolism.

There are a number of books including Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, Atkins Diabetes Revolution and the newest The New Atkins for a New You that are chock full of information you need to be successful.

For a brief introduction review the Atkins Approach here.  

A Word of Caution

If you already have diabetes there is much you can do to stay healthier. To learn how to change your diet, especially if you take blood sugar lowering medication, read Atkins Diabetes Revolution to safely make the transition to a low carb diet and better blood sugar control and a longer, healthier life.

Because controlling carbs can be a powerful tool, do not cut your carb intake without consulting your physician to adjust medications. If you take the same amount of medications with a lower carb intake you are at risk for a severe low blood sugar reaction. 

You can find this article by clicking here, which will take you to Eberstein's website, which is a wealth of information.

MORE EVIDENCE LINKS ALZHEIMER'S AND DIABETES - AP

You've heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes. 

Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar.

In fact, the lines are blurring between what specialists call "vascular dementia" and scarier classic Alzheimer's disease. Whatever it's labeled, there's reason enough to safeguard your brain by fighting diabetes and heart-related risks.

"Right now we can't do much about the Alzheimer's disease pathology," those sticky plaques that clog patients' brains, says Dr. Yaakov Stern, an Alzheimer's specialist at Columbia University Medical Center. But, "if you could control these vascular conditions, you might slow the course of the disease."

The link has staggering societal implications: More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, and cases already are projected to skyrocket in the next two decades as the population ages. The question is how much the simultaneous obesity-fueled epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes may worsen that toll.

Don't panic, diabetics !

There are about 18 million Type 2 diabetics who are considered to have at least two to three times a non-diabetic's risk of developing Alzheimer's. Still, Type 2 diabetes often leads to heart disease and other conditions that kill before Alzheimer's typically strikes, in the 70s.

Don't panic if you're diabetic, stresses Dr. Ralph Nixon of New York University, vice chairman of the Alzheimer's Association's scientific advisory council. Genetics still are the prime risk factor for dementia.


"It by no means means that you're going to develop Alzheimer's disease, and certainly many people with Alzheimer's don't have diabetes," he cautions.

But the latest research strengthens the link, and has scientists asking if diabetes and its related "metabolic syndrome" increase risk solely by spurring brain changes that underlie Alzheimer's — or if they add an extra layer of injury to an already struggling brain, what Nixon calls "essentially a two-hit situation."

Among the findings:

• Brain functioning subtly slows as Type 2 diabetics' blood-sugar rises, well before people have any obvious memory problems.

In a major national study, doctors gave a battery of cognitive tests to nearly 3,000 diabetics. Every 1 percent increase in their A1C score — an average of glucose control over a few months — meant small but meaningful drops in memory, the ability to multitask, and other cognitive tasks, Wake Forest University scientists wrote last month in the journal "Diabetes Care".
The government-funded study is testing whether better treatment to lower those A1C scores in turn improves brain function.

• At Columbia, Stern is co-directing a powerful study: Hundreds of aging New York City residents agreed to regular testing while they were still healthy, allowing scientists to catch the earliest signs of dementia. Stern tracked yearly changes in 156 who developed Alzheimer's, and found that those who had a history of diabetes and high cholesterol worsened faster, he reports this month in a special issue of Archives of Neurology dedicated to the link.
• Type 2 diabetes occurs as a result of insulin resistance, as the body gradually loses sensitivity to this hormone that's essential for turning blood sugar into energy. A similar effect in the brain helps explain the dementia link, Dr. Suzanne Craft of the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System concludes in a research review also published in that journal. Insulin influences memory in a variety of ways, and an insulin-resistant body in turn affects brain cells' insulin-related activity.

Other factors — such as brain inflammation and cell-damaging oxidative stress — may play a role, too. But clearly more affected is a silent dysfunction of glucose control, not something that suddenly begins after diabetes is diagnosed.

"You want to think of it more as a continuum than just whether or not you have diabetes," Stern says.

While scientists sort out exactly what's going on, the research does point to some common-sense protections: If you have diabetes, closely follow your doctor's advice for controlling it. Try to lower high cholesterol and blood pressure that can harm the brain's blood supply and exacerbate memory problems.

And if you're still healthy, Nixon advises "hedging your bets against Alzheimer's" with the same steps that help prevent both diabetes and heart disease — a good diet and plenty of exercise.

To read the article and comments, click here.

Although the article does not mention specifically what it means by "a good diet", it is the growing opinions of many that a low carb, high healthy fat diet is the best defense against Diabetes.  For two great articles that support this view, click here.

NEUROLOGIST DR. LARRY MCCLEARY ON HEALTHY LOW-CARB BRAIN FOODS AND TYPE III DIABETES

Dr. Larry McCleary is the author of the authoritative book on low-carb and brain health entitled The Brain Trust Program.

Dr. McCleary shares his research into the effect carbohydrates have on neurological health, what it takes to maintain a healthy brain and how a low-carbohydrate diet can help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.  Alzheimer’s has recently come to be referred to as “Type III Diabetes” and today’s episode can help protect you and your loved ones from this debilitating disorder!

Click here to listen to the Jimmy Moore Interview with Dr. McCleary, taped on February 19, 2009.