A recent study is staking a claim that there may be evidence of insulin being produced in the brain that may be a type of diabetes. In the cases where there are evidence of insulin and related proteins being produced by the brain, the levels of both are related to Alzheimer's disease.
The findings, which came out in the march, issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, say that insulin is not only produced in pancreas, but in the brain as well. There had been previous findings that had reported that the characteristics of diabetes like insulin resistance is often due to neuro-degeneration. This is the first study that says that there is a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's.Researchers, who had conducted the research on rats, had found that insulin and IGF are all found in the neurons of some areas of the brain. When the level of insulin production drops, the brain cells degenerate to showcase early symptoms of Alzheimer's.
This fall in insulin level do not correspond to any form of diabetes. Scientists are of the opinion that this reflects a new and complicated disease that begins from the central nervous system.
Reference: Journal of Alzheimer's disease, March 2005
