The Scary Truth About Diabetes Medications and Memory Loss 😲 #sugarmd

Let me ask you something. Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten what you went in there for? Okay, yeah, what are we talking about today? What's the video about? I'm just kidding. All right, you find yourself searching for a word that you have said a thousand times and it just won't come to you. Hi, I'm Dr. Ahmad Tariq and I'm an endocrinologist in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We're going to talk about some important stuff today about how things affect your memory and your brain. You may chalk these things up to getting older, right? But maybe you can say, oh, maybe I'm so stressed out, maybe a bad sleep, which all of them can do that too. But what if it is the medications sitting on your nightstand right now? This is a conversation nobody's having with diabetic patients and it needs to happen right now. Because if you have diabetes, your brain is already under extra pressure. That's why we call Alzheimer's disease type 3 diabetes. Not because Alzheimer's patients have high blood sugar, but because of the same mechanism. Some of the most commonly prescribed medications are also are quietly making it worse over time. So today we are going through exactly which ones and what they do, why they do, and what you can actually do about it. So let's go. So there is this diabetes dementia connection that nobody talks about. First, I'll give you some context. People with type 2 diabetes are already at significantly higher risk for dementia, as I mentioned earlier. We're talking about like 50 to 65 percent higher risk compared to people without diabetes. Half the time when I ask a question to the patient, what's your medication? You know, what did you do? What did you have last night? They're like, uh, I can't remember anything. Well, I don't blame them. It's a problem. Some researchers have actually started, like I said, the Alzheimer's, calling it type 3 because of how closely insulin resistance in the brain mirrors what really happens in your body. And here's the basic idea. Your brain runs on glucose. We know that. But when insulin signaling breaks down, which is what happens in diabetes and insulin resistance, your brain cells start getting starved of energy. The neurons cannot communicate properly and inflammation increases. And what we call amyloid plaques, the sticky protein buildup associated with Alzheimer's, start accumulating faster. So your brain is already fighting an uphill battle. Now, add medications that further impair the memory, reduce the key nutrients, or disrupt brain chemistry, and you have got a real problem building slowly over years. Now, what are the medications you need to know about? I'm not saying these medications are evil, that you have to stop them or whatever, but you have to understand how they work, what they do, and why they do these things, so you can take measures. For example, metformin. That's the most prescribed diabetes drug that I know, right? And this one surprises people. Metformin is often the first medication prescribed for type 2 diabetes, and in many ways it's a reasonable drug. It's been associated with longevity. It has a lot of side effects, but there's a lot of proponents or people who support metformin, who defend metformin, you know, because of the benefits. But here's what most doctors don't tell you. Metformin blocks the absorption of vitamin B12. Not a little. Significantly. And B12 deficiency is one of the most underdiagnosed causes of cognitive decline, memory loss, and even symptoms that look exactly like early dementia. You know, if you go to a neurologist, the first thing they're going to check is B12. So numbness in the hands and feet, brain fog, fatigue, mood changes, these are all B12 deficiency symptoms. And they creep up slowly over the years, so you don't even realize what's going on, because you've been taking metformin for years, right? But you didn't think about checking your B12 or taking some B12. Now studies show that up to 30% of long-term metformin users develop B12 deficiency. So if you have been on metformin for more than a year and nobody has checked your B12 levels, but that needs to happen today, not next month, not tomorrow, today. Fix it straight forward, right? Supplement with especially methylcobalamin, right? That's the active form, not the cheap cyanocobalamin version that, you know, a lot of times my patients are like, just give me what insurance covers. Insurance doesn't really cover anything good. Insurance covers things that are the cheapest, which is not always the best thing for you, okay? So get your levels tested regularly and this is not optional, especially if you're a metformin long-term, period. Now the next thing is statins, cholesterol drugs. Now I'm not against cholesterol drugs, okay? There are some idiots out there who will say that do not use statins in a blanket statement, putting a lot of lives at risk. I think statins needs to be individualized. Not everybody can be on it, not everybody should be on it, but there are a lot of people who needs to be on it and there are these people out there saying that, oh, just go on a keto diet and forget about cholesterol drugs. It is such a misunderstanding on their part and there is no evidence whatsoever behind it. They are just going based on a few small studies that are basic science studies, not even real clinical studies. That's a problem. Unfortunately, we are living in an era that a lot of doctors on YouTube, they just say whatever they want and they can get away with it. Now, we know that every diabetic gets prescribed statins, right? But because, you know, we know that because the obvious radius cardiovascular risk. And again, cognitive side effects are real and are documented because your brain is 60% fat. Cholesterol is not your enemy, right? Your brain literally needs it to build neurons, maintain myelin sheets and produce neurotransmitters. And statins work by blocking cholesterol production in the liver. However, do you really need that much cholesterol for your brain to work? Not necessarily. And even the small amount of cholesterol sometimes in diabetics can lead to cardiovascular disease because you're not suppressing the inflammation. So they also, the statins, right, reduce the cholesterol available in your brain. If it is excessively used, it may be a problem. However, I tell my patients this, if you don't use statins at all and they have a very high cholesterol and they just don't want to use statins, I tell them you will not be demented for sure because you will die way earlier before the age of dementia. So most people get demented after their 80s, 80, 85, 90, right? But most diabetics don't make it to 80, 85, you know, because they die early from cardiovascular disease. So there is a bias there. So people live longer on these medications. I'm not saying that you have to use medications or medications will save your life, but it does. It does and people live longer and they eventually develop dementia and they blame the medicine. It's just about the balance, okay? FDA actually added a warning label to statins in 2012, especially about the memory loss and cognitive impairment. That doesn't mean that stop using the drugs. It just means that you need to understand why it happens and how to prevent it. So patients report brain fog, confusion, memory lapses, right? So and it can happen early on too sometimes. It doesn't have to be like 10, 20, 30 years after. But there's also this CoQ10 issue, right? That is the biggest thing that most people don't realize or underestimate. Statins deplete coenzyme CoQ10, which is essential for mitochondrial energy production in every cell, including your brain cell. So low CoQ10 means your neurons are running on empathy. And if you're on statin, supplementing with this CoQ10 like 200 milligram daily is something really important to do instead of blaming the drug for causing dementia because this drug is possibly reducing your risk of heart attacks and strokes. But just over that dementia problem, stopping the medication doesn't make sense. Just take some CoQ10 and just go with it and you'll be all right. So another one is benzodiazepines. Now that one is, I think, a little bit abused by a lot of people because it's prescribed for anxiety, sleep, and whatever. And diabetics deal with a lot of stress. So anxiety about blood sugar, anxiety about complications, anxiety about the future, anxiety about the money, the medication cost, whatever. And it's not uncommon for benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Clonopine to basically end up in the mix. But here's the problem. And it actually helps, by the way, when you put to your blood sugar. A lot of people calm down when their blood sugar gets better. But a major study published in the British Medical Journal found that long-term benzodiazepine basically was associated with up to 51% increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Why? Because these drugs work by enhancing GABA, which is a calming neurotransmitter, right? But over time, they actually reduce your brain's ability to produce GABA naturally. So when you don't take those Xanax, for example, then you get so jittery more than ever before. So your brain ends up being dependent. And chronic use physically changes your brain structure. So that medication, unlike statins, is affecting your brain and your nerves directly. These are not meant to be long-term medications. But people end up on them for years, sometimes decades. If this is you, please don't stop cold turkey. That can be very dangerous. But have an honest conversation with your doctor about a tapering plan and explore alternatives and holistic methods. Meditation, yoga, right? Relaxation techniques, counseling. A lot of things can help come off benzodiazepines. Another one that is not my favorite is proton pump inhibitors. Sometimes we have to use them. People have various esophagus complications, severe reflux, whatnot. But I think this is also overused. Omeprazole, Pantoprazole, Nexium. These are some of the most commonly used medications in the world. Diabetics often end up on them because, again, they have gastrointestinal issues that come with the territory. And then long-term use of these PPIs have been associated with magnesium and B12 deficiency. And they're both critical for brain function, right? And diabetics use a lot of GLP-1 medications nowadays, which also can increase the reflux risk. And that is another reason why a lot of people end up on them. Magnesium deficiency, though, alone, is linked to increased anxiety, poor sleep, and accelerated cognitive decline. And we already talked about what B12 deficiency does to your brain area, right? So, for example, a 2016 study in JAMA Neurology found that regular PPI, proton-pound inhibitor users, these anti-acid medications, had a 44% increased risk of dementia. These drugs were designed for short-term use, like 8-12 weeks, basically. And many people have been on them for, what, 10, 15, 20 years? More? The next class is the anti-cholinergic drugs. This is the hidden category. This is sneaky because anti-cholinergic drugs show up in a lot of different categories, like antihistamines, like Benadryl, people think it's super benign. Bladder medications, like oxybutynin, certain antidepressants, some sleep aids. So, acetylcholine is basically the primary neurotransmitter involved in memory and learning. Anti-cholinergic drugs block it, so short-term, that's manageable. Long-term, it's a serious problem. A landmark study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that people who used anti-cholinergic drugs heavily, right, over 10 years, had a significantly higher risk of dementia. And the risk did not fully reverse when the drugs were stopped. So, check every medication you're on. If it has anti-cholinergic activity, that is a conversation to have with your doctor to see if this is a medication that you can possibly come off or change to something else. What about the holistic side? What you can do, actually? Here's what I want to be real about with you, right? So, I'm not saying throw your medications in trash. Don't get me wrong, right? Some of these medications are keeping people alive, like I said. What I'm saying is, be an informed patient. Ask questions. Push back when necessary. Ask for alternatives. If there's no alternatives, fine. Maybe find a way to reduce the risk of side effects, right? Like I said, CoQ10-4 statins, magnesium B12 supplementation, etc. can help a lot. And while you're having this conversation, here is what the research supports, right? For protecting your brain. A berberine, a natural compound that works similarly to metformin for blood sugar, but without the B12 depletion problem. Especially dehydroberberine, which is what we have in our super berberine, sugar and desuperberberine, the healthiest one. Because berberine alone, if it is not dehydroberberine, will eventually affect your gut bacteria, will start killing everything that's in your gut. So, we don't like berberine more than six months. That's why we developed dehydroberberine that is rapidly absorbed and does not hang out in your gut to kill the bacteria. The growing body of research also behind this. Another one is lion's mane mushroom. This is shown in studies to stimulate the nerve growth factor, which literally helps your brain repair and grow new connections. This is not hype. The research is real. Omega-3 fatty acids, right? DHA especially. DHA is the primary structural fat in your brain. So, low DHA is consistently associated with faster cognitive decline. So, get it from, for example, wild-caught fatty fish or a quality algae-based supplement. Magnesium L-threonate, the only form of magnesium that actually crosses the blood-brain barrier effectively. Now, that has been shown to improve memory and slow cognitive aging. Sleep, definitely not negotiable. Your brain clears amyloid plaques during sleep, during deep sleep, through the lymphatic system. Poor sleep accelerates every single risk factor we talked about today. Blood sugar control itself is basically the single most powerful thing a diabetic can do for their brain. It is basically to keep the glucose and insulin levels stable. Every spike is inflammatory. Every crash is stressful to neurons. So, consistency is your protection. So, bottom line, your brain and your blood sugar are not separate problems. They are the same problem. And the medications, managing one quietly can be damaging the other things over months, over years, until one day fog is too thick to ignore. Now, get your B12 checked. Ask about CoQ10 if you're on statin. Question every long-term prescription and start treating your brain like the organ that runs everything else, because it is. You deserve to be sharp at 70, 80 and beyond. Do not let anyone or any pill take that away from you without a fight. Thanks for watching today. Visit sugarmds.com for your supplement needs and tcendo.com if you live on Treasure Coast in Florida to visit us. Talk to you later.