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Insulin may be used to slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. The study carried out by a team from Northwestern University adds to recent studies that consider dementia a form of diabetes. Increased blood sugar levels are linked to an important area of the brain – hippocampus – which is connected to memory loss. The results point to the idea that maintaining normal blood sugar levels may help prevent age-related memory decline.
According to the study, insulin and rosiglitazone (Avandia), which is used as a common treatment for diabetes, protected the neurons taken from the hippocampus from the negative effects of amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands, or ADDLs that can attach to them and block memory-forming synapses. These proteins have been found to have a role in dementia.
The condition affects one in 20 people with ages ranging from 65 to 74 and almost half of those over 85 are diagnosed with dementia. The most commonly symptom is memory loss, as well as difficulty to remember recently learned facts.
The number of people who suffer from memory loss is predicted to quadruple worldwide over the next half century.
Studies have shown that lower insulin levels may trigger a response in the receptors in the brain linked to memory. Insulin is believed to influence the activity of toxic proteins, reduce inflammation and therefore improve brain function.
“Recognizing that Alzheimer's disease is a brain diabetes points the way to novel discoveries that may finally result in disease-modifying treatments for this devastating disease,” Sergio T. Ferreira, co-author of the study, noted.
The study was published in the February 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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