Can Drinking Too Much Soda Cause Alzheimer's?

All of those sugary drinks like soda may be much more harmful than has been previously thought. Researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham are saying that drinking too many sugar sweetened drinks might contribute to having and increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. They base their theory on the fact that too much sugar can lead to obesity as well as to diabetes and both of these conditions are linked to developing Alzheimer's.

In order to test their theory, they set out to discover if adding a high volume of sugar to an ordinary diet would lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers used a genetically engineered mouse model that is geared to develop symptoms that resemble Alzheimer's disease when the animals reach adulthood. The animals were decided into two groups and were monitored for 25 weeks. One group had 10% sugar water added to their regular well-balanced diet and the other had the same diet, but without the sugar water added.

At the end of the 25 weeks, the mice were tested on their metabolism, memory skills - they had to navigate different mazes- and they also assessed the make up of their brains.

The results showed that the mice who had the added sugar had a weight gain of close to 17% more that the ones who only had the regular diet. They also had higher levels of cholesterol and a resistance to insulin, an indication that they were going to develop diabetes. They also had more trouble learning, and less memory retention. In addition, their brains had more than double the amount of amyloid plaque deposits, which are early signs of Alzheimer's.

There is no way that they can state with any degree of certainty that the detrimental effects that the mice experienced are directly related to the extra sugar in their diet or just the result of a much higher calorie intake. However, the results do point to a high degree of probability that there is a risk from too many sugar sweetened drinks. The amount of sugar that the mice consumed equates out to be equal to about 5 12 ounce cans of soda every day. But mice have a much higher level of metabolism, so in reality the 5 can estimate could be a bit high and it could take less for humans to have an effect. Also, different people have different levels of metabolism, so the right level for one might not be right for someone else.

The lead researcher is Ling Li, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Source: University of Alabama http://newswise.com/