High blood sugar associated with prediabetes may increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that insulin resistance — higher-than-normal levels of blood sugar that often precede type 2 diabetes — was related to poorer performance on memory tests taken by late-middle-age adults.
“The findings are interesting because people with diabetes are at increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, but we are only now learning why they may be at increased risk,” said lead researcher Barbara Bendlin, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The study results suggest that insulin resistance could increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease by altering the way the brain uses sugar (glucose), which is its primary fuel, she said.
