But while many turn to a popular supplement to ease joint pain, new research suggests it could actually speed up cognitive decline as well as increase the chances of death in those with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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Millions of older adults turn to a common supplement for joint pain that could speed up Alzheimer\u2019s and cognitive decline. LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
More than 40 million<\/a> Americans take glucosamine \u2014 composed of glucose and the amino acid glutamine \u2014 each year to slow the breakdown of cartilage<\/a> in the joints, which may relieve pain and swelling.<\/p>\n A study published in Nature Metabolism<\/a>, though, found that people with Alzheimer\u2019s who took glucosamine supplements were 25% more likely to die within five years than those who didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The widely used supplement also affected those with mild cognitive impairment, or the early stages of dementia, and they were more likely to progress to full Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n The researchers also found that mice with Alzheimer\u2019s-like symptoms that were given glucosamine ended up with worse memory.<\/p>\n On the other hand, blocking the enzyme that makes sugars like glucosamine actually improved dementia symptoms<\/a>, such as short-term memory loss.<\/p>\n A hallmark of Alzheimer\u2019s is the accumulation of toxic protein clumps<\/a> in the brain, known as tau, that interfere with cognitive function.<\/p>\n However, another lesser-known issue with the degenerative disease is the extra sugar coating brain cells and proteins that builds up.<\/p>\n Healthy brain cells normally carry short chains of sugars<\/a> called N-glycans that help proteins attach to each other.<\/p>\n In those with Alzheimer\u2019s, the chains pile up in places they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n This causes proteins in the brain not to work properly, causing memory issues and cells to die, a condition called hyperglycosylation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier research<\/a> has shown that regular glucosamine use is linked to lower dementia risk, but this was in adults with healthy cognitive function.<\/p>\n Since the findings of the most recent study were based on patient records, they only show an association between cognitive decline and use of glucosamine supplements \u2014 not a causation. And one doctor says it\u2019s not all that it seems.<\/p>\n \u201cThis does not mean that glucosamine caused the increased risk of dementia,\u201d said board certified internist and pain specialist Jacob Teitelbaum. \u201cIn my opinion, the conclusion of the study is unsound because patients with arthritis commonly exhibit cognitive decline over time. It is far more likely that the chronic arthritis pain caused the increased dementia, NOT the glucosamine.\u201d<\/p>\n He also points to other research that found that regular glucosamine supplementation correlates with a 15% to 39% lower risk of death from all causes.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreased risk of dementia is especially prominent in arthritis pain. Effectively treating pain is a critical part of decreasing Alzheimer\u2019s risk, and this can be achieved by treating four key components of pain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Currently, researchers are exploring compounds that block the N-glycan molecule and reduce the buildup of sugars on brain cells to see the effects on Alzheimer\u2019s progression.<\/p>\n And while not in supplement form, several studies<\/a>\u00a0have also suggested that a diet rich in sugar and saturated fat can contribute to inflammation in the brain, potentially damaging brain cells and\u00a0raising the risk of dementia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pain is temporary, but a pain relief pill could have detrimental effects on the brain. About 42% of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[277],"tags":[2429,869,31234,9413,868,18,135,19,17,508,14176,3013],"class_list":["post-550893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-aging","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-brains","tag-death","tag-dementia","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nutrition","tag-study-says","tag-supplements"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116802147933467578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/medicine-bottle-white-pills-spilled-131930045.jpg\")
Used for arthritis, glucosamine supplements were linked to a 25% higher chance of early death in those with Alzheimer\u2019s. sosiukin \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n