Alzheimer's and Diabetes
Links between Alzheimer's and diabetes continue to solidify. This JS Online piece takes a high level look at the present scientific consensus: "Insulin is the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. People with high blood sugar often develop abnormal insulin levels and a condition known as insulin resistance. And people with insulin resistance actually may have lower levels of needed insulin in the brain even though they have higher levels in other parts of the body. All that means that brain cells may not be getting enough glucose, inflammation increases, beta-amyloid builds up and the cells die. Still another idea is that high levels of insulin compete with enzymes that break down beta-amyloid, resulting in the troubling protein building up in the brain. ... Even if diabetes simply represents a form of brain artery disease, it likely worsens or accelerates Alzheimer's caused by some other mechanisms."