Cognition in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study

Cognition in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study

PI: José A. Luchsinger, MD, MPH; Co-PIs Jaakko Tuomilehto, Professor; Miia Kivipelto, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor and Jaana Lindström, MSc (Nutrition), PhD, Adjunct Professor

It has been reported that diabetes and its preceding conditions may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These observations have enormous public health implications because of the increasing epidemics of diabetes and its predisposing conditions, overweight and obesity. There are no studies exploring how diabetes prevention strategies may prevent AD. The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (FDPS) offers a unique opportunity to study these issues. The FDPS is a landmark randomized trial of weight loss with diet and exercise (intervention) vs. control among 522 middle aged overweight persons with pre-diabetes. It demonstrated a 58% decreased risk of diabetes in the intervention group which has been sustained over time. The goal of this application is to establish a memory study in the FDPS. We believe that the interventions in the FDPS can prevent memory decline and AD. The FDPS is a randomized trial. This type of study offers a unique opportunity to explore if interventions that prevent diabetes such as diet and exercise can also prevent memory problems and AD. Thus, the primary aim of this project is to compare memory between the intervention and the control arms of the FDPS. This would be the first study of its kind. This study has the potential to 1) clarify if pre-diabetes is related to AD; 2) show that AD can be prevented with diet and exercise; 3) elucidate how pre-diabetes and AD are related.