Alzheimer's May Be Third Form of Diabetes

Insulin may be as important to the mind as it is to the body, shows a report issued to Medical News Today by researchers at Northwestern University. In a study conducted by Dr. William L. Klein, professor of neurobiology and physiology at Weinberg College of Arts and Science and his colleagues, results showed that the inability of Alzheimer's patients to remember and people suffering from type 2 diabetes may be strongly linked together.

Scientists have discovered why the brain insulin receiving signals (crucial for the formation of memory) may stop working in Alzheimer's disease patients. Research has found over the last few years that the findings may show that Alzheimer's disease may actually be a novel third form of diabetes.

Studies show that a toxic protein found in the brain of individuals with Alzheimer's, removes the insulin receptor from the nerve cells making those neurons insulin resistant. This protein is known to attack memory forming synapses is called amyloid derived diffusible ligand or (ADDL). ADDLs are small, soluble, aggregated proteins. Some other research shows that the levels of brain insulin and related receptors are lower in people with Alzheimer's disease, indicating the relation with insulin resistance in the brain to diabetes.

Alzheimer's Disease causes a person to be unable to form memories and the ability to remember old ones. Eventually the person affected will be unable to care for themselves. Alzheimer's Disease affects a large percentage of the elderly population and chances are good that if one lives long enough they will be in some way affected by the disease.

In the brain, insulin and insulin receptors are vital to learning and memory. When insulin binds to a receptor at the synapse it turns on a process which is necessary for nerve cells to survive and memories to form. Alzheimer's may actually be in part of the insulin resistance in the brain. Scientists are currently looking for the reason that this process actually becomes initiated.