Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer's memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.
Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimer's disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for "amyloid ß-derived diffusible ligand.")
With other research showing that levels of brain insulin and its related receptors are lower in individuals with Alzheimer's disease, the Northwestern study sheds light on the emerging idea of Alzheimer's being a "type 3" diabetes.
Wow.
I'd love to know if my brain insulin has improved along with my body's insulin use!
I wonder how they test for brain insulin?
That would surely take a glucose monitor like nothing I've ever seen!
I'm not even going to think about the size of the test strip or where to prick for the blood sample!
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Theory That Alzheimer's Disease Is A Third Form Of Diabetes Supported By Discovery
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2 comments:
Yargh....and here I thought I was just losing my mind on my own. Now I find that it might be my diabetes.
Well blow it out my...beard...
*8(
I know. It blew me away too.
I hate diabetes. I hate diabetes. I hate diabetes. I hate diabetes. I hate.... well back in the day the nuns would of made me write it 500 times, but probably not about 'hate'...usually it was about talking when it was verboten! I've always had issues with forced silence.
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