Glucose, Glycation, AGEs, ALT-711, Arthritis, Cardiovascular Diseases And Diabetes
A healthy person loses resistance to glucose steadily beyond about 40 years of age so that excessive glucose in the blood can cause glycation of proteins in collagen, which is a large proportion of the body's protein. This cross-linking between proteins can cause damage to the cardiovascular system and to eyes, for example. So it is certainly harmful to take in foods with added glucose for anyone over 40.
Eating glucose-rich foods may give someone a surge of energy and make them feel good and that positive feeling is not countered by any negative feeling which could give a warning of damage to follow from the blood's high glucose concentration. Damage to tissues from the glucose occurs many hours after the glucose is eaten and so there is little or no feedback to the brain to associate any unpleasant effect with the ultimate cause. That is contrary to what seems often to be the case with food. Also, damage to the eye lens is a slow process with a cumulative effect as years on a poorly balanced diet add up.
The common domestic form of sugar, sucrose, consists of glucose in combination with another sugar and the compound breaks down in the body. Therefore it is not only use of pure glucose that is a potential problem. It seems likely that matching sugars with dietary protein can reduce the effect and that is support for the wisdom often repeated that people should eat a balanced diet.
Glycation of body tissues proceeds through a product of metabolism called the Amadori product. It is only after many hours that the Amadori product is converted to the long-lasting, advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs).
Consulting a doctor with some symptoms of arthritis would not necessarily result in being advised to be more careful about blood sugars although it is very likely that many people unwittingly damage the collagen of their joints in this way. Also, it is a remarkable fact that many diabetes cases go undiagnosed and many people are borderline diabetes sufferers for years without knowing it. Blood sugar levels fluctuate constantly and it must be very difficult to determine exactly where and how damage may be done. As I said before, the person concerned, typically, will not be able to associate tissue damage with dietary intake, because there is little or no feedback from the body to the brain. If someone suspects that their glucose levels may be high at night they should consider routinely eating an evening meal which is relatively rich in protein.
Some diabetes sufferers have an associated ulcer of the lower leg and it is interesting that a blood condition involving glucose gives a preferred region of weakness in that way. It would be interesting to know whether there is a direct connection to glucose concentration. Also, modern training regimes for competitive sport emphasise the need to 'train down' after great exertion and it seems likely that a sudden stop in the use of glucose to power the muscles could produce an excess in the blood if glucose production does not slow at a fast enough rate. That seems likely since communication between the muscles and the liver is a chemical process and cannot be switched off in a moment. So, the need to train down would be expected to increase as someone approaches 40 years of age and their tolerance to glucose declines.
Research is under way into a drug, called ALT-711, that may be able to reverse the effects of glycation. Since the production of the advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs) in tissues is a factor in ageing it is conceivable that such a drug could slow this aspect of the ageing process or even reverse it.
Please refer to these articles for more information on the glucose problem:
http://faculty.smu.edu/svik/5310/projects2001/Glycation.html