Alzheimers could be diabetes like illness

[Sufi Marmot]

Per Yahoo:

'That's the tantalizing suggestion from a new study that finds insulin production in the brain declines as Alzheimer's disease advances.

"Insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer's disease," senior researcher Suzanne M. de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and a professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, said in a prepared statement.'

Interesting...

-SM

Edited to fix link

[NMDemDist2]

1. my FIL is acting like he's in the early stages

his dad lived to 93 but lost his mind at 70

it's horrible :cry: so I hope they find something!

[ewagner]

4. Going through the same

My MIL was diagnosed 17 years ago. She's 93 now and has been in a nursing home for 14 years. It's sad.

[Mend]

2. I've always thought that it was a defect in the blood-brain

barrier that developed from a variety of causes such as viruses, toxins, etc. It seems to me that in ALZ, stuff gets into the brain matter and stirs things up....just a thought of mine.

[eShirl]

3. Insulin production in the brain???

Is that a mistake, or could they harness the brain to cure Type I diabetes instead of the current cure (pancreas transplant/ pancreas islet cell transplant)?

[Kali]

5. my reaction too

insulin production - in the brain??? I don't think so.

[Sufi Marmot]

7. Apparently insulin is important fror normal brain function...

(I didn't know this until just now...)

From the same article: The discovery that the brain produces insulin at all is a recent one, and de la Monte's group also found that brain insulin produced by patients with Alzheimer's disease tends to fall below normal levels.

Also, a quick glance at Pubmed reveals:

Insulin receptor signaling in long-term memory consolidation following spatial learning

Insulin resistance syndrome and Alzheimer's disease: Age- and obesity-related effects on memory, amyloid, and inflammation

Neuronal insulin signal transduction mechanisms in diabetes phenotypes

So, yeah, I guess there's some kind of connection. Who knew? :shrug: Hopefully these findings will lead to therapeutic opportunities for both diseases...

-SM

[TNDemo]

6. That's interesting because my mother developed diabetes

while in the mid stage of Alzheimer's. She got the early onset kind. It was replaced with Glucophage so does it make a difference in the disease if the insulin is replaced?