Ketogenic Diet and management of Alzheimer’s Disease: An Annotated Bibliography
Xu Y, Jiang C, Wu J, Liu P, Deng X, Zhang Y, Peng B, Zhu Y. 2021. Ketogenic diet ameliorates cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. CNS Neurosci Ther. [accessed 2022 April 27]; 28(4):580–592. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi:10.1111/cns.13779.
The conducted experiment used a mouse model to experimentally determine if ketogenic diets affect cognitive functions while also investigating possible onsets of Alzheimer’s Disease and how it affects the mice. A ketogenic diet was given to a group of 5XFAD mice, mice with five Alzheimer’s Disease linked genetic mutations, for four months in which it was recorded that the mice had improved working memory, spatial memory, and spatial learning. The ketogenic Diet reduced neuroinflammation in the mice, a factor that amplifies the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease, by reduction of amyloid plaque deposition and microglial activation. Additionally, it was indicated that the duration of time the mice were on the Diet played a factor in the ketogenic Diet’s effectiveness in regards to cognitive functions, with a shorter time of Diet leading to weaker effectiveness.
This source is very credible as it has been peer-reviewed by professionals in the same field of neuroscience who are very experienced with them being linked to many other experiments done within neuroscience and have tested for how true these experimental results are. The authors of this research paper have great qualifications, with all of them either being researchers in a neuroscience lab or medical doctors in a similar field in hospitals in China. Also, they have published several papers in many journals showing that they have continuously produced credible work. This paper is objective as it shows no biases toward any particular party; for instance, they randomly selected the mice they used in each experiment. This article assessed the use of ketogenic diets and how they will affect cognitive functions, and it will contribute to my literature review by giving a viewpoint on the therapeutic interventions when treating Alzheimer’s disease. Also, elaborating on the ketogenic Diet’s effects on cognitive impairments as there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the correlation in this field, and no papers really answered it prior to this research paper.
Phillips MCL, Deprez LM, Mortimer GMN, Murtagh DKJ, McCoy S, Mylchreest R, Gilbertson LJ, Clark KM, Simpson PV, McManus EJ, et al. 2021. Randomized crossover trial of a modified ketogenic diet in Alzheimer’s disease. J Neurodev Disord. [accessed 2022 April 27]; 13(1). https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-021-00783-x
The research paper details the experiments that were conducted in which twenty-six people that were all clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease were given two diets to determine which had greater potential for improving their cognitive functions. The two diets were a modified ketogenic diet and a standard regular diet that had healthy eating guidelines, including low-fat foods. The patients were randomly put on the diets and stayed on either diet for twelve weeks, followed by a ten week washout period, a time for the content of the Diet to leave the patient’s body. The results were cross referenced with exams to test cognitive functions such as the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease patients questionnaire, Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study – Activities of Daily Living inventory, and the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination – III over the twelve week period. The experiment results suggested that the modified ketogenic Diet helped manage the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease, with the researchers recording that those who were on the Diet were remembering important information easier than those on the regular Diet. Also, it was suggested that people with Alzheimer’s Disease had great adherence to the ketogenic diet, and it was relatively safe. Overall, the ketogenic Diet displayed its capabilities of improving the quality of life and daily function in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease.
This source is very credible as the authors are all doctors with either a Ph.D. in neuroscience or medical doctors who specialize in a field relating closely to neuroscience. They are also researchers, and the majority of them work in the Department of neurology at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand, demonstrating they are highly qualified in this area. Also, the paper has been peer reviewed by professionals in the same field of neuroscience while also being conforming with medical ethics by the Waikato Maori Consultation Research Review Committee and the Health and Disability Ethics Committee of New Zealand, allowing for more researchers to replicate and possibly add onto in the future. This paper is objective as it shows no biases toward any particular party, such as conflicts of interest. This article’s main goal was to assess if a ketogenic diet can improve the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease in patients. It will contribute to my literature review by demonstrating what the ketogenic Diet can do compared to other diets.
Nagpal R, Neth BJ, Wang S, Craft S, Yadav H. 2019. Modified Mediterranean-ketogenic diet modulates gut microbiome and short-chain fatty acids in association with Alzheimer’s disease markers in subjects with mild cognitive impairment. J Ebiom. [accessed 2022 April 27]; 47:529–542. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6796564/.
The research paper details the experiments that were conducted in which they were trying to determine the variations of the gut microbiome when comparing adults who either have a mild level of cognitive impairment or those who are cognitively normal when partaking in a modified Mediterranean-ketogenic diet as well as how it alters the gut microbiome signature in association with cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers. This was done through randomized experiments which included seventeen individuals that ranged in their late fifties and early seventies in age being placed on a modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet and seeing how the American Heart Association Diet (AHAD) intervention impacted the gut microbiome, markers of Alhezihemer’s Disease in the cerebrospinal fluid and other factors before it was used and after it was used. There was a six week period of this Diet being implemented, which was then followed by a six week washout period. Their results suggested that the modified Mediterranean-ketogenic Diet can be used to manage the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease with the gut microbiome showing its great promise of being an indicator for people with levels of cognitive impairment, and the Diet can act as a regulator and indicator for those who may be coming close to developing Alzheimer’s Disease.
This source is very credible as the authors are all medical doctors with specialties and subspecialties in neurology and geriatrics showing they have great expertise in how Alzheimer’s Disease works as it typically affects people who are elderly. They also are affiliated with several schools that are prestigious such as Wake Forest School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic demonstrating they are highly qualified in this area to get the backing of these institutions. The source is objective as it shows no biases throughout the article. It is peer reviewed by fellow experts in the field, showing that not only is it ethical, but it can be replicated and produce similar results. This paper aimed to determine how the Mediterranean modified ketogenic Diet can be used to identify Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers and how that can act as a way of preventing or managing Alzheimer’s Disease. It will contribute to my literature review by showing a connection between Alzheimer’s Disease and the gut microbiome.
