Hormone linked to appetite 'could offer hope to prevent Alzheimer’s disease'

A hormone linked to appetite could offer hope to sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease

link here

They found that over 12 years people with the highest leptin levels were four times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with the lowest. Cases of Alzheimer’s are predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades, in part because of our ageing population. At the moment around 700,000 people in Britain have dementia, of which around 400,000 have Alzheimer’s, the most common form of the disease. But that figure could rise to 1.7 million by 2051, doctors have forecast. Leptin has previously been linked to the body’s ability to control appetite, according to the findings, published in Jama, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Previous studies have also shown that obesity in middle age can increase the risk of developing dementia. Dr Wolfgang Lieb, from Boston University, who led the latest study, said: "These findings are consistent with recent experimental data indicating that leptin improves memory function in animals.

Excellent news if this pans out. Having known someone who died from alzhiemers complications I've always tried to follow these advances.

science daily link

Once again healthy eating and balance is showing signs of being the best long term strategy for overall health. I can't wait to hear more about this as it progresses.

Folate defiecency

Validated tests were carried out at the start and end of the two year period to find out if they had a dementing illness. Similarly, blood tests were taken to assess levels of folate, vitamin B12, and the protein homocysteine, and how these changed over time. High levels of homocysteine have been associated with cardiovascular disease. At the start of the two year period, almost one in five people had high levels of homocysteine, while 17% had low vitamin B12 levels and 3.5% were folate deficient. The higher the levels of folate to begin with, the higher were vitamin B12 levels, and the lower those of homocysteine. By the end of the study, 45 people had developed dementia. Of these, 34 had Alzheimer's disease, seven had vascular dementia, and four had "other" types of dementia.

More reading on this subject.

Perhaps doctors should be more focused on vitamin, mineral and hormonal balance in patients then in prescribing medications. I've always been astounded by doctors that tell me they have little training in nutrition and diet.

The hormone in questions, Leptin, is produced by the fat cells. Research has shown that it Leptin stimulates thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism. More fat leads to more leptin leads to increased thyroid hormones and increased metabolism. Less fat leads to less leptin leads to less thyroid hormone and decreased metabolism.

"Could" is a strong word in this case. This study is based soley on observations and the researchers have no idea what mechanisms and physiological effects leptin is causing.

In fact, the findings (and the article) are contradictory. The article points out that obesity is associated with increased alzheimers incidence and high leptin levels are associated with decreased incidence, but body fat is directly proportional to serum leptin levels. The more body fat, the more leptin.

The contradiction suggests that high leptin levels lower risk of alzheimers if the individual is not leptin resistant. Kind of confusing....

-Dev