Junk Food Accelerates Alzheimer's

The brains of the mice were scanned after they had been eating junk food

A Swedish research project has uncovered a link between eating junk food and the risk of you developing Alzheimer's disease in the future. The researchers saw that by eating food that was high in sugar, cholesterol and fat activated changes in the brain which are associated with the beginning stages of Alzheimer's.

It is reckoned that the number of individuals who will develop Alzheimer's disease over the next 30 years could double and this may have a lot to do with unhealthy junk food diets.

The researchers conducted a project by where they fed junk food to mice that had been genetically tampered with to be very susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. The brains of the mice were scanned after they had been eating junk food for nine months and clear patterns evolved which showed that they were becoming more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease in the future.

One of the researchers, Ms. Susanne Akterin from the Karolinska Institute based in Stockholm said that testing showed that the junk food changed the formation of a particular protein called tau that has been found in greater quantities in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers and which is thought to be the cause of brain cells dying. It is also likely that another brain protein called arc that is responsible for memory was damaged by high levels of cholesterol.

Being overweight is also linked to higher levels of Alzheimer's disease with some statistics showing that if you are overweight at the age of 60 you double your chances of suffering from the disease by the time you are 75. Doctors and scientists around the world are beginning to realise the importance of maintaining a good weight not only for physical health but also for mental health. If you have a susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease or any other form of dementia in your family you should make a specific effort to keep yourself in a shape because it could pay dividends in the future.