Is Alzheimer's Disease a 3rd Type of Diabetes?

Perhaps you've heard lately of a different label being used almost as a nickname for Alzheimer's disease- "Type 3 Diabetes". If you're anything like me, you may be wondering why they- the researchers- are using this term, and if there's any truth in it. Being intrigued, I read up on "Type 3 Diabetes," and thought I'd share some interesting facts with you. First, as mentioned in an earlier post here, people who have type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk to develop Alzheimer's disease. Second, Alzheimer's affects the brain's ability to process glucose, but unlike type 1 and type 2 diabetes,  the dysfunction in type 3 diabetes (Alzheimer's) only occurs in the brain. The rest of the body, if it doesn't have (or develop) diabetes, remains able to process glucose. Third, there's a lot of research being conducted right now to determine if insulin sensitizing medications that are used for type 1 and type 2 diabetes will help improve cognitive functioning for people who have Alzheimer's disease. I referenced one study a few weeks ago, but there are many being conducted right now. While it's too early to tell how effective this type of medications will be for treating Alzheimer's, scientists do seem to feel that understanding the connection to the brain's ability to process glucose may be one of the many pieces to the puzzle of Alzheimer's disease. To learn more about the relationship between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, as well as a more detailed explanation on type ...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news