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Originally published July 17 2006

Prediabetes linked with dementia, Alzheimer's

by NaturalNews

(NaturalNews) -- New research shows that prediabetes, a precursor to diabetes resulting from slightly elevated blood sugar levels, has been shown to greatly increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied 1,173 people age 75 and older, including 47 participants who had prediabetes at the beginning of the study. After nine years, the researchers tested the participants for dementia and Alzheimer's, and found that the prediabetics in the group had a 70 percent greater risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's.

The study's lead researcher, Weili Xu, was "surprised" by the results of the study, and warned doctors against ignoring patients' prediabetic symptoms, which are often overlooked until they develop into full-blown diabetes.

A second study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente tracked 22,000 type 2 diabetics and found that those patients who kept their blood sugar levels closest to normal ran the lowest risk of developing dementia.

However, while conventional medical researchers believe that prediabetes is the root cause of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, natural health critics say that both Alzheimer's and prediabetes share a common cause: Blood sugar disorders and excess insulin production due to the consumption of processed, refined foods. Both disorders stem from consumers' poor dietary choices -- one does not cause the other. Alzheimer's disease has recently been found to be a blood sugar disorder of the brain, much like "diabetes of the nervous system."

Regardless of the cause of the diseases, researchers say the best remedy for prediabetes is diet and exercise, which comes with the added benefit of preventing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

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