Modifiers of the Gut-Brain Axis in the Risk for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

The Gut-Brain Axis—what does that connection represent?

Well, the gut-brain connection is often described as a bidirectional highway that is linked to many cause and effect health consequences, and many studies have explored the impact of the gut environment and microbiome on brain health in that gut-brain dynamic.

Indeed, the role of the gut-brain axis is a significant factor in the risk for numerous health disorders throughout life, and it can have substantial implications on your body-brain health as you age.

For example, numerous studies have examined the role of gut health and disorders such as small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and their consequences on brain health that includes mood and mental health disorders.

Additionally, significant research that links SIBO and pro-inflammatory disorders such IBD in the risk for cognitive decline and dementia has been accruing now for well over two decades and I have been following that science since the 1990s and to this very day.

In today’s podcast, I’ll be sharing about the findings of a few studies that investigated aspects of the gut-brain axis with regard to the risk for cognitive decline and dementia in aging.

In such study, a substudy of CARDIA titled "Association of the Gut Microbiota With Cognitive Function in Midlife", it was determined that " gut microbial community composition, was significantly associated with cognitive scores in an analysis of middle-age CARDIA participants,"

The parent CARDIA study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults), was initiated in 1985-86 for the purpose of “examining the development and determinants of clinical and subclinical cardiovascular disease and their risk factors.”, from young adulthood into middle age.

Since its inception, the CARDIA study has investigated the role of several risk factors that affect cognition and brain health in aging including cardiometabolic disease (diabetes, heart disease, obesity) which is highly associated with an increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease in aging.

There are two main findings that I focus on in this podcast with regard to the CARDIA substudy (Association of the Gut Microbiota With Cognitive Function in Midlife) that were significant modifiers of the gut-brain axis and cognitive performance:

•  a gut bacteria associated with SIBO and cognitive performance and,
• short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are beneficial metabolites produced by healthy fermentation of resistant starches—a fiber that functions as a prebiotic.

I also briefly review the findings of a few studies on the neuroprotective benefit of several probiotic strains and probiotic therapy in modifying the risk for type 2 diabetes and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Please listen in to hear the rest of the gut-brain axis story!

Ralph Sanchez, MTCM, CNS, D.Hom

www.TheAlzheimersSolution.com

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