Research focus: Role of diabetes and diet in preventing ALS

Type 2 diabetes is associated with heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease, and other complications and is considered a major public health problem. However, it may also contain a solution and provide clues on how to prevent ALS.

“Diabetes is associated with a lower risk of ALS, especially in older adults and Europeans,” explained Mario Flores, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Alberto Ascherio at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Interestingly, other cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity and dyslipidemia, are also associated with lower ALS risk.” refers to elevated levels of cholesterol and/or triglycerides).

However, the relationship between diabetes and ALS is complex, and population-based studies can sometimes yield contradictory results. For example, in a study published in 2015 found that type 2 diabetes was associated with a lower risk of ALS in people living in Denmark. another study A paper published in the same year concluded that diabetes increases the odds of developing ALS in Taiwanese people, especially young men.

Intrigued by its potential impact on the development of ALS prevention strategies, Professor Flores and co-investigator Ketil Bjornevik, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University, decided to explore the largest possible link between diabetes, diet, ALS and ALS. and conducted one of the most comprehensive studies. date. They are pooling data from six large US-based studies, which will allow them to analyze decades of health and lifestyle information from more than 1 million people.