Over the years (14 of them, actually…), I’ve written on breast cancer (my wife was diagnosed with it in 2011); Alzheimer’s (my dad was diagnosed in 2016) and finally Type 2 diabetes when I was diagnosed in October of 2022.
Well, my nightmare is coming true: “The relationship between diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has increasingly been recognized.” The paper, “Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease” (published in JOURNAL OF DIABETES, 2025 May 19, see Source: below) concludes:
“There is, then, a strong connection between diabetes and AD, reflecting underlying insulin resistance leading to [Aβ accumulation and tau hyperphosphorylation] (colloquially known as plaques and tangle). Appropriately powered clinical trials of GLP‐1 RAs and SGLT2 inhibitors, as well as of further potential therapies, are needed to determine effective strategies for prevention and treatment. Conceptually, physical activity and a healthy diet can improve insulin sensitivity and should be effective in reducing AD, but existing evidence to develop effective lifestyle approaches is limited, and this too appears to be an important potential area for research.”
The first part is totally disheartening, and makes me feel like there’s nothing for me to do but to lie down and let the Alzheimer’s and resign myself to sharing inappropriate anecdotes with my children and other friends, or forgetting the name of my youngest child…
Both of those happened with Dad. Outbursts of anger, as well (though, to be perfectly frank, Dad was well known for not only the anger thing, but also a getting in fights thing when he was a kid growing up in Loring Park (downtown Minneapolis).
It was the loss of his grip on reality that frightens me most. He called me a 3:00 am more than once to tell me that he thought that “Your mother has left me. I don’t know why.” I would have to calm him with the tale that my mother had passed away a few days/months/years ago. Which would bring him crashing into reality in total silence.
Those times, or when I had to explain that the person driving him home from a fishing trip was my younger brother, Paul. Or explaining over and over that Mom had died…
Now, I find out that my being a Type 2 diabetic increases the chance of my developing those plaques and tangles and a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s.
Finally, I read the WORST part: “Clinical trials are underway to investigate the potential of the GLP‐1 RA semaglutide (which you may know as the WONDERDRUG used by people desperate to lose weight by giving themselves shots of…well, I could write out the actual name, but the brand names of semaglutide start with O, W, M, Z and their ilk) rather than controlling their appetites. This has led to insurance coverage being reduced or eliminated in modifying Type 2 diabetics. It is also preventing the potential to control and treat Alzheimer’s Disease among early‐stage symptomatic patients. The sodium‐glucose co‐transporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i; known as those letters listed a few sentences ago) may also have neuroprotective antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects, increasing neurogenesis and synaptic activity and decreasing ischemic neuronal damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as improving hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity.”
So, there you go. First, Type 2 diabetes may lead to Alzheimer’s; and the treatment for both prevention and treatment has been adjudged to be nothing more than a cure for obesity. (and therefore ELECTIVE and therefore probably not covered by insurance or cash on the barrelhead...)
Have a nice day.
Breast Cancer: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/04/observations-of-breast-cancer-husband.html
Alzheimer’s: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2016/09/guys-gotta-talk-aboutalzheimers-1.html
Type 2 Diabetes: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2022/10/guys-gotta-talk-aboutdiabetes-1.html
The first part is totally disheartening, and makes me feel like there’s nothing for me to do but to lie down and let the Alzheimer’s and resign myself to sharing inappropriate anecdotes with my children and other friends, or forgetting the name of my youngest child…
Both of those happened with Dad. Outbursts of anger, as well (though, to be perfectly frank, Dad was well known for not only the anger thing, but also a getting in fights thing when he was a kid growing up in Loring Park (downtown Minneapolis).
It was the loss of his grip on reality that frightens me most. He called me a 3:00 am more than once to tell me that he thought that “Your mother has left me. I don’t know why.” I would have to calm him with the tale that my mother had passed away a few days/months/years ago. Which would bring him crashing into reality in total silence.
Those times, or when I had to explain that the person driving him home from a fishing trip was my younger brother, Paul. Or explaining over and over that Mom had died…
Now, I find out that my being a Type 2 diabetic increases the chance of my developing those plaques and tangles and a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s.
Finally, I read the WORST part: “Clinical trials are underway to investigate the potential of the GLP‐1 RA semaglutide (which you may know as the WONDERDRUG used by people desperate to lose weight by giving themselves shots of…well, I could write out the actual name, but the brand names of semaglutide start with O, W, M, Z and their ilk) rather than controlling their appetites. This has led to insurance coverage being reduced or eliminated in modifying Type 2 diabetics. It is also preventing the potential to control and treat Alzheimer’s Disease among early‐stage symptomatic patients. The sodium‐glucose co‐transporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i; known as those letters listed a few sentences ago) may also have neuroprotective antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects, increasing neurogenesis and synaptic activity and decreasing ischemic neuronal damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as improving hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity.”
So, there you go. First, Type 2 diabetes may lead to Alzheimer’s; and the treatment for both prevention and treatment has been adjudged to be nothing more than a cure for obesity. (and therefore ELECTIVE and therefore probably not covered by insurance or cash on the barrelhead...)
Have a nice day.
Breast Cancer: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/04/observations-of-breast-cancer-husband.html
Alzheimer’s: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2016/09/guys-gotta-talk-aboutalzheimers-1.html
Type 2 Diabetes: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2022/10/guys-gotta-talk-aboutdiabetes-1.html
