Alzheimer's can be the advanced stage of type 2 diabetes. This could open the doors to a joint treatment to combat them.
Alzheimer and Diabetes, a single disease.The experts discovered that the amyloid plaques, typical of Alzheimer's evil, also appear in the advanced stages of type 2 diabetes.
The experts discovered that the amyloid plaques, typical of Alzheimer's evil, also appear in the advanced stages of type 2 diabetes.
Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, affects approximately 35 million people in the world.And despite efforts it has not yet been prevented or treating it.A recent study has just revealed that this neurodegenerative disease could be an expression of type 2 diabetes in an advanced stage in the brain.The finding could change the treatment of evil and give a light of hope to those who suffer from it.
The investigation, funded by the Esta-Dounidense Association of Diabetes (ADA), was presented at the last meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, California.While it is not the first time that Alzheimer's lies with type 2 diabetes, the researcher Ewan McNay, of the New York State University and co -author of the work, said he discovered the mechanism by which 70 percent of diabeticsIt presents a decline in its cognitive functions and tends to develop Alzheimer's.
McNay and his team gave them foods of high fat content at 20 laboratory rats to generate type 2 diabetes. Then they were done by memory tests and compared the results with those of as many healthy rats.As expected, diabetic rodents had trouble remembering and showed an accelerated deterioration of their cognitive abilities as the disease progressed.And when they were examined by the brain, they detected amyloid plates, extracellular beta-amyloid deposits characteristic of Alzheimer's patients.
According to McNay, these plates are also formed in the brain of diabetics due to the resistance exerted by the body to insulin, an essential hormone produced by the organism to metabolize the glucose of food, which gives it the necessary energy to function normally.
“Excess insulin reduces the ability of the brain to eliminate amyloids.This study showed that the plates are formed because they are a cause and not a consequence of the events that produce cognitive deterioration in diabetes, ”McNay explained to week.This means that the cognitive deterioration seen in type 2 diabetes can be early stage.
The discovery of the direct relationship between both diseases raises several hypotheses about their development and the way they can prevent themselves.Type 2 diabetes has genetic origin or is caused by obesity, since those who suffer from it usually consume foods rich in sugar and saturated fats.
When the organism cannot metabolize glucose and insulin, cognitive functions can be affected by hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.That is why eating in excess can favor diabetes and cases of dementia."Both diseases have the same risk factors: age, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity," Howard Fillit, geriatrician, neuroscientist and director of the Drug Discovery for Alzheimer's discovery (Addf, for itsacronym in English).
Given the relationship between both diseases, experts claim that it is best to prevent diabetes with a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity and a diet that controls blood glucose levels.They also propose activities that keep the brain active.That way two birds of a single shot will be killed.The finding would also allow to prescribe drugs, because "some diabetes medications can be formulated to patients with Alzheimer's," says McNay.In this way, cognitive deterioration in early stages could be reversed.
However, other experts consider that the most important thing is to find what differentiates patients with type 2 diabetes who have developed Alzheimer's from those who do not.In this way, "doctors could intervene in advance and not wait for patients to develop the disease to treat it," says Jessica Smith, spokeswoman for Alzheimer's society in the United Kingdom.
According to Robinson Cuadros, a member of the Colombian Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, in the country there are about 300,000 patients with Alzheimer's, but there may be many more because only 10 percent of them or their caregivers consult their doctor when the disease isStarting."The false imaginary that it is normal to lose memory over the years delay early detection," he told this magazine.The case of diabetes is no different.Of the 25.1 million people living with this disease in Latin America, about 45 percent do not know.
Both Alzheimer's evil and diabetes appear in those over 40.Therefore, in the light of this finding, "it is important to promote healthy habits at all stages of life with a view to reducing the appearance of diseases or to cope with them better," concludes paintings.Similarly, research on the medical treatment of both evils should continue to be evaluated to prevent the figure from being doubled in 2050, as indicated by global projections.
Neuroscience