Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes; is there a link?
Most people know about Alzheimer’s disease as something that happens as people age which causes dementia in older people. Typically, the persons mental capacity withers away and they eventually lose the ability to think, interact and remember simple things.
There is new research that ties Alzheimer’s disease to insulin which is needed by the brain for the neurons to work properly. Without insulin, these cells lose function over time. There is a growing body of evidence (1) that is now showing that Alzheimer’s disease should be reclassified as Diabetes type 3 because of how it develops and the reclassification can help doctors find ways to help prevent Alzheimer’s from developing.
There may also be a correlation to this disease process and cholesterol lower drugs, since cholesterol is necessary for normal brain function.
Check out this article on Diabetes Type 3
About Diabetes Type 3
| By Jennifer Olvera
Diabetes Type 3—which is regarded as “brain” specific diabetes—is a dangerous diabetes hybrid that was first discovered in 2005. A study, which was conducted at Brown University Medical School, suggests the brain produces insulin in a way that’s similar to the pancreas. A problem with insulin production in the brain is thought to result in the formation of protein “plaque”—not unlike that which is found among suffers of Type 1 (insulin-dependant) and Type 2 diabetes (insulin-resistant). But in the case of diabetes Type 3, plaque appears in the brain and leads to memory loss and problems forming memories.
What Happens
When it comes to the body, insulin is responsible for helping to convert food to energy. The brain uses insulin, too, but it’s thought insulin’s primary purpose in the brain is to form memories at synapses (the spaces where cells in the brain communicate), notes Time.com. Neurons save space for insulin receptors; insulin makes way for memories to form. In order for the brain to keep making more brain cells, it needs insulin. When insulin receptors flee—as is the case with sufferers of diabetes Type 3—the brain does not receive the energy it needs to form memories.
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