A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that hormone insulin may protect against damage to brain cells key to memory. More specific, insulin may benefit people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

 

The study was the work of researchers from Northwestern University in the United States and the University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The team, led by William L. Klein, a researcher in North western's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, treated nerve cells from the hippocampus, one of the brain’s critical memory centers with insulin and diabetes drug Avandia.

 

The researchers then looked at the effects of insulin on proteins called amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), which build up in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s causing damage.

 

The study found that “bolstering insulin signaling can protect neurons from harm,” Klein said. Moreover, he said the findings support the idea that Alzheimer’s is a type of diabetes of the brain.

 

“In Type 1 diabetes, your pancreas isn’t making insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, your tissues are insensitive to insulin because of problems in the insulin receptor. Type 3 is where that insulin receptor problem is localized in the brain,” Klein said.

 

Previous studies have found that people suffering from diabetes have a higher risk of getting Alzheimer’s than healthy people.

 

Alzheimer’s is a terminal and degenerative disease for which there is no known cure. The best way to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s is to have a balanced diet, to exercise regularly and to give up smoking and drinking, which influence the development of the disease.