Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases may be due to nutritional deficiencies secondary to unrecognized exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be related to nutritional deficiencies from exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) with mal-absorption of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. EPI occurs in about twenty percent of the elderly population, sometimes without obvious symptoms, a number similar to the incidence of AD. Other Neurological degenerative diseases with potential nutritional components such as Parkinson's disease, frailty of age and Multiple Sclerosis, a disease with increased activity from vitamin D deficiency, may also be related to untreated exocrine pancreatic insufficiency causing impaired absorption of essential dietary elements. Testing of patients with Neurological degenerative diseases for EPI may enable correction of underlying nutritional deficiencies with enzyme replacement as necessary, possibly resulting in improvement of the underlying Neurological condition.