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THREAD: A follow-up to yesterday’s thread on Alzheimer’s disease
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1/13 I think some people misunderstood or misinterpreted what I wrote.
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1/13 I think some people misunderstood or misinterpreted what I wrote.
2/13 I heard from a few people who told me that there are many different causes of dementia. I suspect they were saying this because they have or had a loved one afflicted with this terrible illness, and they felt a little bit defensive.
3/13 Defensive possibly because they read into my tweets something that was *not there.* Alzheimer’s is, without a doubt, the result of impaired cerebral glucose metabolism. That is the problem. Now, what *causes* that problem, we don’t know.
4/13 We can speculate, but the truth is, we don’t know the underlying driving factors. I think my mentioning glucose/insulin in the brain led some ppl to think I was “blaming the victim.” Like, if they had had a better diet, they wouldn’t have developed Alz, so they “deserve” it.
5/13 That was neither overtly stated nor implied in any of that thread. Not at all, so if anyone misinterpreted, please understand that you assumed I was implying something I was not implying.
6/13 We don’t know what the absolute, incontrovertible causes of Alzheimer’s are, but we do know that the memory loss, personality & behavioral changes, etc., result from a fuel shortage in the brain – a shortage of glucose, specifically. (In the absence of ketones, that is.)
7/13 As for dementia having many causes, yes, absolutely. But we also need to be aware that Alz is only one form of dementia. Not all kinds of dementia are Alz, and I suspect some other forms that have other, very clear and more easily identified causes, are misdiagnosed as Alz.
8/13 For example, a physical trauma to the head (TBI, CTE) can cause dementia. Vascular dementia results from reduced blood flow (and oxygen/nutrient delivery) to the brain, such as from a stroke or various other reasons.
9/13 Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause cognitive impairment. B12 deficiency can cause *several* neurological & neurodegenerative issues, some of which are IRREVERSIBLE. (Best resource on this topic: amazon.com/Could-Be-B12-E…
10/13 Long-term improperly treated hypothyroidism can cause cognitive impairment, as can chemotherapy. (They even call it “chemo brain.” mayoclinic.org/diseases-condi…)
11/13 In my opinion, all of those represent variations of cognitive impairment, but not all of them are Alzheimer’s. B12 deficiency-induced cognitive impairment is *B12 deficiency,* not Alzheimer’s disease. And it’s a damn shame this isn’t identified sooner, as it’s v. easy to do
12/13 That’s it for now. I wanted to set the record straight, because I don't want anyone to think I was at all even hinting that anyone “deserves” to have Alzheimer’s or that it “serves them right” for eating a poor diet. We don’t know that diet & lifestyle have an influence.
13/13 I think it’s hard to believe they *don’t* have at least *some* influence, but who knows? I don’t pretend to have all the answers…or any, for that matter. All I try to do is share information I think is compelling. Insulin & glucose are huge players but not the only angle.
