DRWF Research: After eating blood glucose level spikes could increase risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers explore links between type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance to impact on brain health.
A recently published report, based on research part-funded by DRWF, found that spikes in blood glucose levels after meals could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Previous studies have highlighted that hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose levels), diagnosed type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance are strongly linked to worsening brain health, specifically increasing the risk of cognitive decline and dementias.
However, until now, the underlying mechanisms were not well understood.
The study by researchers from the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool used data from the UK Biobank to analyse genetic data from more than 350,000 people aged between 40 and 69.
They focused on markers of how the body processes sugar, including fasting glucose, insulin levels and blood glucose measured two hours after eating.
Using a technique called Mendelian randomisation, where researchers use genetic differences between people as a kind of “natural experiment,” the study team tested whether these traits were likely to play a causal role in dementia risk.
The results of the study, recently published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, found that people with higher post-meal blood glucose (postprandial hyperglycaemia) had a 69% greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
This was not explained by changes in overall brain size or damage to white matter, suggesting that the risk may operate through more subtle mechanisms.
The research was led by Dr Victoria Garfield, who was awarded the DRWF Professor David Matthews Non-Clinical Fellowship in 2022, receiving £128,663.95 over a two-year period.
The title of Dr Garfield’s DRWF-funded research programme, that contributed to this latest study, was Understanding how diabetes and hyperglycaemia causes cognitive decline, dementia and abnormal brain structure. An integrated genetic epidemiological and deep phenotyping approach to disentangle pathways and interplay of risk factors.
In a summary for the DRWF-funded research Dr Garfield said: “Dementia is one of the most feared diabetes complications. Risks are elevated in people with diabetes, but glucose lowering trials have been disappointing.
“However, Mendelian randomisation is a genetic tool which can help uncover true causal relationships, as genes are randomly distributed at birth and not influenced by external risk factors. Using this, I have shown that diabetes itself does not appear to cause dementia.
“I now want to use this tool to identify which diabetes related factor is the true culprit, in large datasets which include measures of cognition, brain structural damage and dementia.
“There are four potential explanations: i) processes underlying diabetes e.g., insulin resistance, ii) associated metabolic disturbances, e.g., amino acids, iii) associated risk factors e.g., blood pressure (BP), iv) risk factors upstream of diabetes e.g., obesity.
“By identifying true causal determinants, we will be in a better place to pinpoint interventions to be tested in clinical trials to reduce dementia risk in diabetes.”
The latest study concluded: “Genetically proxied postprandial hyperglycaemia contributes to increased Alzheimer's risk in mid-life, warranting replication in other populations and ancestries to confirm and clarify underlying mechanisms.”
Dr Andrew Mason, study lead author, said: “This finding could help shape future prevention strategies, highlighting the importance of managing blood sugar not just overall, but specifically after meals.”
Dr Garfield, senior author, added: “We first need to replicate these results in other populations and ancestries to confirm the link and better understand the underlying biology. If validated, the study could pave the way for new approaches to reduce dementia risk in people with diabetes.”
Read the report in full in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Read more about the Professor David Matthews Non-Clinical Fellowship and DRWF Research
Read more about type 2 diabetes
Read more about this DRWF-funded research in an article scheduled for the upcoming Spring 2026 edition of Diabetes Wellness News. To subscribe visit here
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