WHETHER YOU ARE HEALTHY OR DISEASED, DO NOT SIT AT EASE
BECAUSE TIME HAS ALSO COME TO TACKLE TYPE-3 DIABETESE
Although much has already been discovered, much more remains to be discovered about TYPE-1 and TYPE-2 DIABETES, but now it is the turn for TYPE-3 DIABETES. Scientists say they may have discovered a previously unknown form of diabetes, after finding that brain also produces insulin just like the pancreas. Unlike other types of diabetes, the form, dubbed as TYPE-3 DIABETES by the United States’ Brown Medical School Team, is actually not thought to affect the blood sugar. TYPE -3 is supposed to affect the brain insulin levels, and appears to be linked with ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. The research team, lead by Dr. Ms. Suzanne De La Monte and her colleagues appeared in the Journal Of Alzheimer’s Disease in the year 2005.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes occur when the body is unable to produce or use insulin from the pancreas. The so-called TYPE-3 diabetes refers to lower than normal levels of newly discovered BRAIN INSULIN, which appears to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease in some way. Scientists have known for some time that people with diabetes have an increased risk of ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE - by up to 65%. Scientists have also discovered that many type 2 diabetics have deposits of a protein in their pancreas which is similar to the protein deposits found in the brain tissue of people with ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. Research has been going on to find out what links the two conditions. By looking at rodents and post-mortem brain tissue from people with Alzheimer’s disease they have found that insulin and its related proteins are actually produced in the brain, and that reduced levels of both are linked to ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. They say this insulin and its related growth factors and receptors in the brain are vital for the survival of BRAIN CELLS. If they are not produced at normal levels, the death of cells is certain. In the case of Alzheimer’s, the cells that die are located in the part of the brain involved with memory, called the HIPPOCAMPUS. These abnormalities do not correspond to type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but reflect a different and more complex disease process that originates in the central nervous system. The implication is that treating type 1 or type 2 diabetes may have no impact on Alzheimer’s disease. The author of the research said : “We believe that therapeutic agents need to be designed that specifically influence the actions of insulin in the brain”. There is some evidence to suggest that poorly controlled diabetes also affects the functioning of the brain. However, far more research on a link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes is needed before one can draw any firm conclusions. Scientists have suggested that the link could be down to molecular changes affected by insulin.
(Posted on February 26, 2007, 9:35 am G. S. JOHAR)
WHETHER YOU ARE HEALTHY OR DISEASED, DO NOT SIT AT EASE
BECAUSE TIME HAS ALSO COME TO TACKLE TYPE-3 DIABETESE
American researchers, in the year 2004, had advised the people suffering from type 2 diabetes to skip any cup of coffee with their meal, otherwise, their diabetes would become worse. The study, lead by DR. JAMES LANE, at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, USA, found that there is a strong correlation between caffeine consumption at mealtime and elevated glucose and insulin levels afterwards. The scientists found that for those suffering from type 2 diabetes, their bodies either do not produce enough insulin, or cells ignore whatever insulin is present. Insulin is crucial to the ability of the body to convert food into energy.
Although much has already been discovered, much more remains to be discovered about TYPE-1 and TYPE-2 DIABETES, but now it is the turn for TYPE-3 DIABETES. Scientists say they may have discovered a previously unknown form of diabetes, after finding that brain also produces insulin just like the pancreas. Unlike other types of diabetes, the form, dubbed as TYPE-3 DIABETES by the United States’ Brown Medical School Team, is actually not thought to affect the blood sugar. TYPE -3 is supposed to affect the brain insulin levels, and appears to be linked with ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. The research team, lead by Dr. Ms. Suzanne De La Monte and her colleagues appeared in the Journal Of Alzheimer’s Disease in the year 2005.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes occur when the body is unable to produce or use insulin from the pancreas. The so-called TYPE-3 diabetes refers to lower than normal levels of newly discovered BRAIN INSULIN, which appears to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease in some way. Scientists have known for some time that people with diabetes have an increased risk of ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE - by up to 65%. Scientists have also discovered that many type 2 diabetics have deposits of a protein in their pancreas which is similar to the protein deposits found in the brain tissue of people with ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. Research has been going on to find out what links the two conditions. By looking at rodents and post-mortem brain tissue from people with Alzheimer’s disease they have found that insulin and its related proteins are actually produced in the brain, and that reduced levels of both are linked to ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. They say this insulin and its related growth factors and receptors in the brain are vital for the survival of BRAIN CELLS. If they are not produced at normal levels, the death of cells is certain. In the case of Alzheimer’s, the cells that die are located in the part of the brain involved with memory, called the HIPPOCAMPUS. These abnormalities do not correspond to type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but reflect a different and more complex disease process that originates in the central nervous system. The implication is that treating type 1 or type 2 diabetes may have no impact on Alzheimer’s disease. The author of the research said : “We believe that therapeutic agents need to be designed that specifically influence the actions of insulin in the brain”. There is some evidence to suggest that poorly controlled diabetes also affects the functioning of the brain. However, far more research on a link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes is needed before one can draw any firm conclusions. Scientists have suggested that the link could be down to molecular changes affected by insulin. The work funded by the ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH TRUST is currently investigating the way insulin acts on the brain and should improve our understanding of Alzheimer’s and hopefully lead to way to new treatments.
(Posted on February 26, 2007, 9:35 am G. S. JOHAR)
