Support for Alzheimer's as a Type of Diabetes
You might recall intriguing research from 2005 that cast Alzheimer's disease as a form of diabetes. Here's more from EurekAlert!: researchers "have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimer's disease. ... 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 beta-derived diffusible ligand.') ... ADDLS are small, soluble aggregated proteins. The clinical data strongly support a theory in which ADDLs accumulate at the beginning of Alzheimer's disease and block memory function by a process predicted to be reversible. ... ADDLs bind very specifically at synapses, initiating deterioration of synapse function and causing changes in synapse composition and shape. ... the molecules that make memories at synapses - insulin receptors - are being removed by ADDLs from the surface membrane of nerve cells. ... We think this is a major factor in the memory deficiencies caused by ADDLs in Alzheimer's brains. ... We want to find ways to make those insulin receptors themselves resistant to the impact of ADDLs. And that might not be so difficult." Note the important word in the middle there - "reversible."
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/nu-dst092607.php