Research on mice links fast food to Alzheimer's

Reuters ^ | November 28, 2008 | Michael Kahn

[re_tail20]

Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.

The findings, which come from a series of published papers by a researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, show how a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

"On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain," Susanne Akterin, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, who led the study, said in a statement.

[maryz]

OK, everyone — stop feeding your mice junk food at every meal! Once in while for a treat, that’s fine . . .

[maryz]

Come to think of it, I've read that they do breed strains of lab animals to be especially susceptible to various diseases. No mention of it in the article, but since the article does mention a significant genetic factor in Alzheimer's, one would think that it would be highly relevant. Did they at least do genetic testing on the mice to see if they were highly vulnerable?

[billorites]

It's the Special Sauce that messes with your head.

[LibFreeOrDie]

were fed a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months -- meals representing the nutritional content of fast food.

Ah! So the mice weren't really fed "fast food" (even though the article is accompanied by a photo of a McDonald's meal). If fat, sugar, and cholesterol causes Alzheimer's, then fine French pastries would put you at risk. Why not blame bakeries and ritzy restaurants instead of fast food?

[mathluv]

Well, when will the toon show (more) signs?

[BillyA]

Irresponsible research and/or reporting.

WHAT precisely in fast food... was it the trans fats? beef? cheese? oil?

I can only assume all of these places are not using the exact same formula for their foods.

Stupid ... I hope my tax dollars didn’t pay for this rubbish.

[billorites]

Probably better to stick with the chicken.

[SkyDancer]

So what if you make the same things at home ... then it’s OK? I’ve never been able to figure out the difference between what is made at fast food places and the same meal fixed at home ... weird ....

[mombonn]

a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol

Hmmmm, sounds like yesterday's Thanksgiving spread.

[RightWhale]

Mice get everything at my house except old.

[VOA]

Ah! So the mice weren't really fed "fast food" (even though the
article is accompanied by a photo of a McDonald's meal).

Deja vu all over again.
This sounds like a repeat of the "scientific" research that showed
cyclamate sweetner was dangerous to humans...
because when you fed the equivalent of what would be a pounds/day
dose to rats/mice, they got sick (cancer?).

[Doogle]

.."that's where I was going, Thanks for reminding me"

[Parmy]

If this is true, then explain to me how old people who have never eaten fast food have been afflicted with alzheimer disease/

[RnMomof7]

A new excuse to closer down fast food shops?

PLEASE....

[Sacajaweau]

Guess what...We all eat the same stuff as the fastfood places offer. The difference between fast foods and home is in the “fast”.

[freekitty]

And tomorrow it will be the complete opposite.

[momincombatboots]

Sounds dubious. Do mice have the same enzymes and other substances to absorb/ eliminate fast food? They will never be happy until we are degenerating vegetarians. The decrease in bone mass associated with veganism results in loss of spine. Publish that! Fat is a necessary component of testosterone, but also stores estrogen. We are a tad more complex than mice.

[zarodinu]

Fast food actually prevents Alzheimers. If you eat alot of fast food, you will die young from heart and vascular disease. People who eat this badly simply don’t live long enough to enjoy Alzheimers which mostly strikes the elderly.

[shineon]

Fast food causes global warming.

[shineon]

I mean climate change.

[mysterio]

a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

Most Americans eat that way at home, too. So it's not just the demon "fast food."

[BerryDingle]

Fast food.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

These are probably ApoE knockout mice, and when they are fed a Western diet they start to get atherosclerosis-like plaques in their arteries as they age. A high percentage of dementias are actually vascular dementias, related to altered blood flow to the brain. These patients can be mistakenly referred to as having Alzheimer's, but do not actually have that disease. There may be some metabolic component to what is going on in these mice as well, but it's intriguing that this could be due primarily to vascular changes.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Research on mice links fast food to Alzheimer's

So I guess that diet of slow food would be better for them.

Ok, everybody chew each bite 20 times and you won't get Alzheimer's.

I am so smart.

[LibWhacker]

Yep, really idiotic article. If scientists had been studying the link between drunken driving and traffic accidents, the author might’ve titled his story ‘Research on mice links Beer to Traffic Accidents.’

[fortunecookie]

If fat, sugar, and cholesterol causes Alzheimer's, then fine French pastries would put you at risk. Why not blame bakeries and ritzy restaurants instead of fast food?

Good point. And if the results are different for the French or the ritzy restaurants, because of the wine with meals connection, then maybe fast food places merely need to offer wine with each meal...

[Rebelbase]

I can’t remember when the last time was I ate fast food.

[Political Junkie Too]

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, uh, cheese... pickles I think... uh... uh...

-PJ