Is Alzheimer's a Type of Diabetes?
December 6, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research is adding to evidence linking insulin deficiency and Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers studied 45 brain tissue samples from both healthy people and patients at various stages of Alzheimer's disease. They found samples from patients with the most advanced disease had the fewest insulin receptors and the least ability to respond to insulin.
"In the most advanced stages of Alzheimer's, insulin receptors were nearly 80-percent lower than in a normal brain," says lead author Suzanne M. de la Monte, M.D., M.P.H.
Investigators also found a major characteristic of Alzheimer's -- acetycholine deficiency which leads to dementia -- is directly linked to the loss of insulin and insulin-like growth factor in the brain.
"We're able to show that insulin impairment happens early in the disease. We're able to show it's linked to major neurotransmitters responsible for cognition," Dr. de la Monte says. "We're able to show it's linked to poor energy metabolism and it's linked to abnormalities that contribute to the tangles characteristic of advanced Alzheimer's disease. This work ties several concepts together and demonstrates that Alzheimer's disease is quite possibly a type 3 diabetes."
Dr. de la Monte also notes the findings point to insulin as a potential target for early treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
SOURCE: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2005;8:247-268
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