A few friends who know I study the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s diseases contacted me on social media yesterday regarding a news story published in Daily Mail and other media outlets about a link between sugar intake and Alzheimer’s disease. This disease, named after Dr Alois Alzheimer, a German Psychiatrist and Neuropathologist, who first reported it in 1906, is the most common form of dementia and currently affects nearly 50 million worldwide. Alzheimer’s, which is irreversible and currently has no treatment or cure, is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that commonly steals away memories of sufferers. Imagine losing the memory of who you are, your family, culture or even religion? Memories make us who we are, and this disease takes it away! Over time, brain cells of sufferers continue to die as a result of which other brain functions become affected, leading to problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, hallucinations, behavioural problems, loss of bodily functions and eventually death.

 

In the Daily Mail story, it was specifically said: “Adding just two-and-a-half teaspoons of sugar to your tea DAILY increases your risk of Alzheimer's by 54%, study finds”. The news was based on a finding from Columbia University in the United States presented this week at Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago, in which scientists followed 2,226 people living in New York who did not initially have the disease over around seven years. Of these people, 429 developed Alzheimer’s, and this was linked to their sugar intake. The scientists studied the level of sugar in soft drinks, fruit drinks and food taken by the participants, and they conclude that taking sugary things in excess may enhance one's likelihood of developing the disease. This was not the first time sugar was linked to Alzheimer’s disease. A recent study in which 5,189 people were followed over 10 years found that high blood sugar is linked with cognitive decline, which is a common problem that occurs in Alzheimer’s. Indeed, many studies have shown that diabetes, a disease associated with sugar, increases the chances of developing this disease. Indeed, Alzheimer’s disease has been called “Type 3 Diabetes”.

 

Should you be worried about this news as a Nigerian? The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) said a while ago that sugar consumption in Nigeria is moderate. However, last year Nigeria was ranked as the fourth market in the world in terms of soft drinks consumption. In excess, this could enhance the risk for many health problems, not just Alzheimer's, e.g. heart disease, diabetes and even liver disease. For Alzheimer’s, many Nigerians never live to the age of onset of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease can have an early onset, affecting people younger than 65 years, and constituting about 5% of all cases. This is called familial Alzheimer’s disease, or FAD, which occurs due to the inheritance of genes that cause the disease. A gene is the basic unit of heredity, made up of DNA which act as instructions that direct our biological processes.