【?????? ???? ????? ??????】Scientists find new link between sugar and Alzheimer's

Scientists are ?????? ???? ????? ??????finding more evidence that you should probably cut down on your sugar intake.

A group of U.K. researchers say they've spotted the molecular "tipping point" that could explain sugar's ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Their findings provide further evidence that there might be a link between high blood sugar levels and the memory-robbing disease, though they don't prove that sugar causes Alzheimer's outright.

SEE ALSO: Doctors discover why stressed out people have more heart attacks

"Excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity," said Omar Kassaar, a biologist at the University of Bath, in a press release.

"But this potential link with Alzheimer's disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets," he said.

Alzheimer's is a progressive, degenerative disease that eventually hinders a person's ability to function. Along the way, the brain steadily erases all the names, faces, places and stories it's stored up over decades. Some people grow paranoid and depressed, or they stop eating and sleeping.

A social worker helps an elderly woman during a memory activity at a home in Spain that specializes in Alzheimer's patients. Credit: david ramos/Getty Images

In the U.S., Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading cause of death.

With Alzheimer's, abnormal proteins accumulate into plaques and tangle between the brain's nerve cells. This build-up progressively damages the brain and leads to severe cognitive decline.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Previous research has shown that glucose -- the body's main source of sugar -- and its related breakdown products can damage proteins in the body's cells. This happens through a reaction called glycation: when a sugar molecule bonds to a protein, without the controlling action of an enzyme.

But scientists have lacked an understanding of the specific molecular link between glucose and Alzheimer's. That is, until now.

This week, Kassaar and his colleagues from the University of Bath and King's College London said they've unraveled that link -- a discovery that could lead to new treatments or prevention measures for the brain disease, they said.

In the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers looked at brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer's.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

They used a sensitive technique to detect the process of glycation. The researchers saw that, in the early stages of Alzheimer's, glycation damages an enzyme called MIF, or macrophage migration inhibitory factor.

MIF plays a role in insulin regulation and immune response. By inhibiting and reducing MIF, glycation seemed to hinder the brain cell's response to the accumulation of abnormal proteins.

The U.K. team found that as Alzheimer's progresses, glycation of the MIF enzymes increases. That makes MIF the likely "tipping point" in disease progression, according to their study.

"Normally MIF would be part of the immune response to the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain," Jean van den Elsen, a co-author and professor in the University of Bath's biology and biochemistry department, said in the press release.

"We think that because sugar damage reduces some MIF functions and completely inhibits others that this could be a tipping point that allows Alzheimer's to develop," he said.

Van den Elsen said the team is now looking to see if they can detect similar changes in blood, which would further confirm the suspected links between glucose and Alzheimer's.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This medical device eliminates the most painful thing about needles

---

• focus
• fashion
• synthesize
• recreation
• knowledge
• hotspot
• explore
• relaxation

• Returning to Her Parents’ Musical Roots
• AmazonFresh will now deliver your groceries directly to your car
• People are sharing the weird little things that really annoy their mums
• Completely not
• Applicants for 2018 Miss Pasadena JCI Sought
• India's biggest online retailer is acquiring eBay's India business, report says
• Porsche's cash bonanza for every employee will make you wish you worked there
• 10 people afflicted by the failure of Trumpcare
• Samurai Film Series at the Aero
• This footballer's speech about losing his wife is utterly heartbreaking

• The underpowered Nintendo Switch will still be great in 2023
• Starlink speeds went down again in Q3
• Uber and Autonomous Vehicle company Motional are rolling out driverless rides in major cities
• Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for December 6
• Elon Musk says Apple never considered removing Twitter from App Store
• Prices in Apple's App Store are about to change
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for December 8
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for December 5
• Canada vs Morocco livestream: How to watch FIFA World Cup Group F live
• Twitter losing ad revenue during World Cup

• Чемпионское интервью с GentlemaN — о развитии Standoff 2, победе на мейджоре и амбициях Virtus.pro
• Sean Spicer: Trump empowers women. World: You live under a rock, bro?
• Porsche's cash bonanza for every employee will make you wish you worked there
• India's biggest online retailer is acquiring eBay's India business, report says
• Nikkei Socials Dance at Nakaoka Center
• Two guys trespassing an NBA player's yard is now a judgmental meme
• Trumpcare might be gone but the internet is memeing it to death just in case
• Stunned kid lands an unthinkable pencil
• Legend Behind the Camera
• We totally agree with George W. Bush on Trump's inauguration speech

• Screening of ‘Nuclear Cattle’ at Art Share L.A.
• Twitter turns a discriminatory hashtag (on a blank page) into LOLs
• This new breastfeeding help chatbot frustrates more than it informs
• Girl uses Tinder to make money and you'll wish you thought of it first
• Samurai Film Series at the Aero
• The personal data of all of Hong Kong's 3.7 million registered voters have been stolen
• Loneliness can worsen common cold symptoms, so call me, k?
• 'Racist' question on kid's homework sheet is angering people
• Lobanjica считает переход киберспортсменов в Deadlock хорошей идеей
• India blocks 'The Danish Girl' from airing on TV