Aging and Disease

The group of researchers from Brown University Medical School analyzed, in the frontal part of the brain, one of the major area affected by Alzheimer’s, insulin and insulin receptor function.

The team discovered that the levels of insulin receptors and the brain’s ability to respond to insulin decreased as the severity of Alzheimer’s increased.

According to the experts, insulin receptors were nearly 80 percent lower than in a normal brain in the most advanced stage of Alzheimer’s.

Two abnormal situations related to insulin in Alzheimer’s were also found by researchers. The first abnormal situation was that as the disease progressed, levels of insulin dropped. In relation to the second one, experts explained that insulin and its related protein, insulin-related growth factor-I, lose the ability to bind to cell receptors, which creates a resistance to the insulin growth factors, causing the cells to malfunction and die.

For the neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, Suzanne M. de la Monte, this means that they are able to show that insulin impairment happens early in the disease, as well as they are able to show it is linked to major neurotransmitters responsible for cognition.

“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”, explains de la Monte, the leader of the research.

Article written by Hector Milla editor of http://www.mydiabetessupply.com, a website about diabetes testing supply, or you may read their last article: Information on Diabetes Drugs Called Glucovance (Glucovan) at http://www.mydiabetessupply.com/1/information-diabetes-drugs-called-glucovance.html Thanks for using this diabetes article in your website or ezine keeping a live link.

Tags: Medical, Illness

Popularity: 1%

According to a new study, diabetes and Alzheimer’s diseases are more related than everybody thought. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer’s could be a form of diabetes, because findings show that insulin production in the brain declines as Alzheimer’s disease advances.

Through a series of experiments, a group of researchers discovered that the brain produces insulin and that this substance produced by brains of patients with Alzheimer’s illness tends to fall below normal levels.

For the neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of pathology at Brown University Medical School, Suzanne M. de la Monte, “insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer’s disease and many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer’s, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling. This demonstrates that the disease is most likely a neuroendocrine disorder, or another type of diabetes”.

During the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, brain levels of insulin and its related cellular receptors fall precipitously, as her group of researchers explained. They believe that Alzheimer’s might be a new form of diabetes since the evidence shows insulin levels continue to drop progressively as the Alzheimer’s disease becomes more severe.

The team led by de la Monte also found that low levels of acetylcholine are directly linked to this loss of insulin and insulin-like growth factor function in the brain. Acetylcholine is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers team autopsied the brain tissue of 45 patients diagnosed with different degrees of Alzheimer’s called “Braak Stages” and compared those tissues to samples taken from individuals with no history of the disease.

Article written by Hector Milla editor of http://www.mydiabetessupply.com, a website about diabetes testing supply, or you may read their last article: Information on Diabetes Drugs Called Glucovance (Glucovan) at http://www.mydiabetessupply.com/1/information-diabetes-drugs-called-glucovance.html. Thanks for using this diabetes article in your website or ezine keeping a live link.

Tags: Cancer, Aging

Popularity: 1%