Is there a Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer?

The hormone that is vigorously involved in metabolism and blood glucose is insulin. Too little insulin causes type 1 and too much of it causes type 2 diabetes. This is a condition that is called resistance to insulin. Scientists are more and more convinced that this is a master hormone that influences the other hormones.

Researchers know that diabetics have higher risk of developing Alzheimer by up to 65% than the general population without this condition. But they did not know the answer to why this is so until now. There is a new study on this very issue. This is also mentioned at this page where you can just hit control f and you will find Alzheimer.


Researchers from Boston's Joslin Diabetes Center and Cologne Germany conducted a study that suggests resistance to insulin in the brain cells can influence how it works. This can lead to the biochemical changes in people with Alzheimer.

It looks like the researchers have found out that the brain also produces insulin. And so they are now saying there is another form of diabetes which the team in Brown Medical School in the United States called type 3, but they do not think it affects the blood sugar. So now insulin could be significant to the brain.

The insulin levels are affected by this type 3 and seems to be connected with Alzheimer. This is what they published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. So let's make this clear. When the body is not able to produce insulin from the pancreas, type 1 and 2 diabetes occur. This type 3 diabetes which refers to lower insulin in the brain seems connected to Alzheimer.

The scientists also found out that many of those with type 2 diabetes have protein deposits in their pancreas that are the same as those in the brain tissue of people with Alzheimer. That is why researchers are going on to find the link between the two conditions.

Rhode Island's neuropathologist Dr. Suzanne de la Monte and her team think the link is in the newly discovered type 3. This opens up new ways to treat the condition and the possibility of type 3 diabetes is raised. There is also proof that diabetes that is poorly controlled affects brain functioning. More research should be conducted to arrive at stronger conclusions.