A research team from Brown University Medical School, headed by Dr. Suzanne de la Monte, has identified a new condition they are calling "type 3 diabetes." They have discovered that insulin is not just made in the pancreas -- but also in the brain. A shortage of brain insulin, and its related compounds, say the researchers, appear some way associated with Alzheimer's Disease. A person with "type 3 diabetes" would have lower than normal levels of brain insulin, and, as a diabetic (type 1 or type 2) appears to have 65 percent more likelihood of experiencing Alzheimer's, the link is timely and challenging.
"What we have found," says Dr. de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital, "is that insulin is not just produced in the pancreas, but also in the brain. These abnormalities [type 3 diabetes] 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 researchers suspect treating type 1 or type 2 diabetes to establish euglycemia may or may not affect brain insulin levels -- further study is necessary. They call for new therapeutic agents specifically targeting the action of brain insulin.
This is a beginning; much remains to be done. We know there is a statistical link between diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and increased Alzheimer's risk. We know there is "brain insulin," and that below-normal levels of this insulin are statistically associated with Alzheimer's. We do not yet know the nature of the link. When we do, look for a burst of progress against Alzheimer's. VOICE OF THE DIABETIC will keep you posted.
Thanks to BBC-Online (www.bbc.co.uk) March 7, 2005, for the "heads-up"
on this item.