Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 Diabetes?

New York Times columnist Mark Bittman has added a touch of controversy to the morning with his article, “Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 Diabetes?” A friend of mine forwarded it to me at the precise moment when I was doing yet another round of research on LADA — short for “latent autoimmune diabetes in adults” and otherwise known as “diabetes 1.5” — and perhaps as a result, my immediate response was not one of fascination, but of fatigue. “Really?” I thought to myself. “There’s another goddamn type of diabetes?”

But it turns out, as is so often the case in journalism, that the headline is misleading. Bittman is not actually proposing that Alzheimer’s is a form of diabetes. He’s suggesting, rather, that it could be a complication. To quote: 

“Diabetes causes complications too numerous to mention, but they include heart disease, which remains our No. 1 killer. And when the cells in your brain become insulin-resistant, you start to lose memory and become disoriented. You even might lose aspects of your personality.

“In short, it appears, you develop Alzheimer’s.

“A neuropathologist named Alois Alzheimer noticed, over a century ago, that an odd form of protein was taking the place of normal brain cells. How those beta amyloid plaques (as they’re called) get there has been a mystery. What’s becoming clear, however, is that a lack of insulin — or insulin resistance — not only impairs cognition but seems to be implicated in the formation of those plaques.”

In other words, he’s pointing out that insulin resistance, which can be caused and exacerbated by diets that are high in simple carbs (think sodas and junk food), might be affecting the function of our neurons. 

I am not an expert in this area, but the argument — that diet could affect our brains — does sound plausible, though I think it’s irresponsible copyediting to run that headline about “Type 3.” Regardless of how strong the connection actually is between insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s, I think that Bittman’s final suggestion is a sound one. He writes:

“Adopting a sane diet, a diet contrary to the standard American diet (which I like to refer to as SAD), would appear to give you a far better shot at avoiding diabetes in all of its forms, along with its dreaded complications. There are, as usual, arguments to be made for enlisting government help in that struggle, but for now, put down that soda!”

Catherine Price

Catherine Price (www.catherine-price.com) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism

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Catherine Price

Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism