Fructose Consumption is Associated with a Higher Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study

J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2023;10(2):186-192. doi: 10.14283/jpad.2023.7.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between fructose consumption and all-cause dementia, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia.

Methods: We used data from the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS) Cohort exams 5 through 9. Fructose consumption was quantified using a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at cohort examinations 5 and participants were dementia-free at baseline. Surveillance for incident events commenced at examination 9 through 2014. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios for the association between fructose consumption and incidence of all-cause dementia and AD dementia.

Results: Over a mean follow-up of 15.2 (interquartile range, 12.3-17.1) years (31715.1 person-years), there were 233 dementia events of which 163 were AD dementia (70.0%). After multivariate adjustments, individuals with the highest consumption of fructose had a higher risk of all-cause dementia, and AD dementia when comparing daily cumulative consumption to 0 per week (reference), with HRs of 1.49 (95% 1.14-1.84, P for trend < 0.001) for all-cause dementia, and 1.60 (95%CI 1.22-2.01, P-trend < 0.001) for AD dementia. And the comparable results were shown in the subgroups for individuals with median consumption of fructose.

Conclusion: Fructose consumption was associated with a higher risk of all-cause dementia and AD dementia.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Framingham Offspring Study; Fructose; dementia; risk factors.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / diagnosis
  • Alzheimer Disease* / epidemiology
  • Alzheimer Disease* / etiology
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prospective Studies