[ad_1]
A study by the University of Colorado links youth-onset diabetes to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, emphasizing the need for more research and possibly early cognitive testing in diabetes care in young people.
A CU Anschutz study indicates that diabetes that begins in youth may increase the risk of dementia and related neurodegenerative diseases.
A new study from the Center for the Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus suggests that young people with diabetes may face a significantly increased risk of Alzheimer’s diseases as they age.
In the study, published in the journal endocrineScientists demonstrated the presence of specific blood biomarkers that indicate early signs of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in young people with juvenile-onset diabetes.
“Preliminary evidence shows that the preclinical neuropathology of AD is present in young people with juvenile-onset diabetes,” said the study’s senior author, Allison Shapiro, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics and endocrinology at the School of Medicine. the University of Colorado. “These preliminary data suggest the possibility of an early-onset AD risk trajectory in people diagnosed with diabetes in childhood or adolescence.”
That includes both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Research methodology
Most studies investigating the connection between AD and diabetes have focused on people over the age of 40 who are 60% to 80% more likely to develop dementia, and possibly AD, compared to the same age group without diabetes.
But this study examined the same association in a much younger age group.
The study looked at about 80 people and focused on blood biomarkers and PET scans to look for evidence of neurodegenerative diseases in young adults with diabetes. Some had type 1 diabetes, some had type 2 diabetes, and some did not have diabetes. Study participants with youth-onset diabetes came from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study, a multicenter, population-based registry and cohort.
In addition to the higher blood biomarkers of AD seen in young people with juvenile-onset diabetes, “those with juvenile-onset diabetes showed elevated accumulation of amyloid proteins in areas of the brain where AD occurs,” Shapiro said.
These new data worry researchers given the growing burden of obesity among the country’s youth and the earlier ages at which people develop diabetes. Shapiro said about 20% of young people in the United States are obese. Obesity contributes to diabetes and the inflammation that causes many other diseases, including AD.
Future directions and clinical insights
“We are about to enter a different world of health care because of the obesity epidemic among young people,” Shapiro said. “Young people are catching up with adults. “Now we are seeing more aging-related diseases in young people.”
“We’re not saying these people have AD or cognitive impairment,” he said. “We’re saying this trajectory is concerning.”
Alzheimer’s disease is often considered a disease of old age, but this study shows that early life factors can play an important role in the development of the neurodegenerative disease, Shapiro said.
She and her fellow researchers at the LEAD Center, a research and training center at the Colorado School of Public Health, and the University of Colorado Cognition and Alzheimer’s Center hope to secure additional funding for future testing of this same group of people. as they get older. Following these participants is critical, Shapiro said, to better understand risk and its determinants, as well as to provide clinical insights to clinicians caring for people with young-onset diabetes.
He said cognitive testing, which is being considered for older adults with diabetes, could also benefit younger people.
“The field of diabetes care is beginning to recognize the importance of cognitive testing as part of clinical follow-up,” Shapiro said. “And it should be something we consider in young-onset diabetes as well.”
Reference: “Biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease in adolescents and young adults with juvenile-onset type 1 or type 2 diabetes: a proof-of-concept study” by Allison LB Shapiro, Christina Coughlan, Brianne M. Bettcher, Meghan E. Pauley, Jeongchul Kim, Petter Bjornstad, Benjamin Rajic, Jennifer Truong, Christopher Bell, Ye Ji Choi, Keenan A. Walker, Huntington Potter, Angela D. Liese, Dana Dabelea and Christopher T. Whitlow, May 5, 2024. endocrine.
DOI: 10.3390/endocrinos5020014
