Insulin May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

Filed in archive Notable , Research on February 3, 2009

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 4271242

The formation of Alzheimer's-related protein plaques can be prevented by insulin and other drugs that control diabetes. Such were the findings of researchers from Northwestern University.

Researchers at Northwestern University treated nerve cells from the hippocampus, one of the brain's critical memory centers, with insulin and the drug Avandia, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes. They discovered that insulin protected the cells from clumps of toxic proteins called amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), which target nerve connections in the brain.

The discovery that insulin may slow or prevent Alzheimer's-related memory loss fuels existing theories that the disease may be caused by a third type of diabetes.

The findings, published at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers new hope in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Also, this adds evidence that Alzheimer's is the type 3 diabetes.