This story did just that. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that Alzheimer's disease has a lot to do with how the brain processes insulin, and that the disease itself may be productively considered as a form of diabetes. Add this to the nearly overwhelming incidence of Type II diabetes among the world's population, which is projected to effect nearly 1/3 of America's population in the next few decades, and you have the most pressing public health crisis of the 21st century.
In case you're too lazy to click the link (you know who you are), a few highlights:
"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.
"The new findings, published online by the FASEB Journal, could help researchers determine which aspects of existing drugs now used to treat diabetic patients may protect neurons from ADDLs and improve insulin signaling in individuals with Alzheimer’s. (The FASEB Journal is a publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)"
3 comments:
Hmmm... that purpley-blue text color turned out a bit more garish than I'd anticipated. I could go change it, I suppose. But then this comment wouldn't make any sense
I like to know more about Alzheimer's. Thanks.
Of course, what my title leaves unsaid is the inadequacy of the language used to describe these conditions. The terms "Type I" and "Type II" diabetes already generate quite a bit of misunderstanding, because they name essentially different diseases. They have different causes, different symptoms, different treatments, different outcomes. Type II diabetes can even be cured.
The only similarity between these two conditions is that they involve insulin--and even here, there is more difference than similarity because Type II is a problem with insulin reception and Type I is a problem with production. Over 90% of the people who have diabetes have a different disease than I do, yet we are all labeled with the same loose, baggy language.
So, while it's really interesting that Alzheimer's has something to do with insulin, and (most hopefully) might respond to some of the treatments and strategies currently used to control diabetes, considering it as "Type III" diabetes serves mostly to highlight the extent to which our knowledge of these three diseases has progressed faster than the language we use to taxonomize and describe them.
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