Youth-Onset Diabetes Associated with Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s

Researchers found that young individuals with diabetes may have an early risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Blood biomarkers and amyloid protein accumulations characteristic of AD were found in the study participants who were diagnosed with diabetes during childhood or adolescence.

The recent rise in childhood obesity and diabetes, which may hasten the onset of aging-related disorders like AD in younger populations, makes this research important. These results highlight the need to reevaluate the way diabetes is managed in youth, with a focus on cognitive testing and preventive interventions.

Important Details:

Early Symptoms of AD in Young persons with Diabetes: The study discovered that certain blood biomarkers and a build-up of amyloid proteins in the brain are early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease in young persons with diabetes.

Impact of Childhood Obesity and Diabetes: There is a correlation between the rising rates of childhood obesity and early-onset diabetes and the higher risk of diseases commonly associated with aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Early Cognitive Testing Is Necessary: According to the findings, cognitive testing—which is typically recommended for older adults with diabetes—should also be administered to younger people who have been diagnosed with the disease.

In the study, which was released this week in the journal Endocrines, researchers demonstrated that young individuals with youth-onset diabetes had particular blood biomarkers that indicated the existence of early symptoms of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Allison Shapiro, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics and endocrinology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, was the study’s lead author. “Preliminary evidence shows that preclinical AD neuropathology is present in young people with youth-onset diabetes.”

“These preliminary data suggest that individuals with diabetes diagnosed in childhood or adolescence may have an early-onset AD risk trajectory.”

Diabetes of both types 1 and 2 are included in that.

The majority of research on the relationship between diabetes and AD has been on adults over 40, as they have a 60–80% higher risk of dementia and probably AD than those in the same age group without diabetes.

However, the same association was looked at in a considerably younger age range in this study.

About 80 participants were examined in this study, which concentrated on combining PET scans and blood biomarkers to check for signs of neurodegenerative illness in young adults with diabetes. others people had diabetes type 1, others type 2, and some had none at all.

Participants in the study who had diabetes at an early age were drawn from the multi-center population-based registry and cohort known as the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study.

The young individuals with youth-onset diabetes not only had greater blood biomarkers of AD, but Shapiro also noted that “those with youth-onset diabetes showed elevated accumulation of amyloid proteins in areas of the brain where AD occurs.”

Given the increased rate of childhood obesity in the country and the earlier ages at which diabetes is developing, these new results worry researchers. According to Shapiro, 20% of American youth suffer from obesity. Diabetes and inflammation, which are the main causes of many other diseases, including AD, are exacerbated by obesity.

“We are about to enter into a different world of health care because of the obesity epidemic in young people,” Shapiro said. “Young people are catching up with adults. We are now seeing more aging-related diseases in young people.”

“We are not saying these people have AD or have cognitive impairment,” she said. “We are saying that this trajectory is concerning.”

Although Alzheimer’s is frequently thought of as a disease that strikes in old age, Shapiro said that this study suggests that early life influences may be important in the development of the neurodegenerative condition.

She hopes to secure more money for testing this same group of individuals as they age at the LEAD Center, a research and training center at the Colorado School of Public Health, and the University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center.

Shapiro stated that it is imperative to monitor these individuals in order to gain a deeper understanding of the risk and its contributing factors, as well as to offer therapeutic insights to physicians who treat patients with diabetes mellitus of the youth.

According to her, younger people may also benefit from cognitive testing, which is already being examined for older folks with diabetes.

“The field of diabetes care is beginning to recognize the importance of cognitive testing as a part of clinical follow-up,” said Shapiro. “And it should be something we consider in youth-onset diabetes as well.”