Neurodegenerative diseases are among the most feared when one gets older and beyond. Medicine has not yet defined the definite causes of cognitive decline, which leads to dementia and other diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He hasn’t even found a definitive cure for these pathologies, nor a sure way to prevent them. The brain, therefore, remains a gray matter in every sense, since what we know about it equals what we still ignore. However, an important novelty would seem to emerge from a research by Northwestern University (United States).
The research concerns the alleged positive effects of insulin on the health of our brain and in particular of a drug that sensitizes its synthesis. This common diabetes drug would also protect neurons by defending the brain from Alzheimer’s, according to data analyzed by the researchers. The milestone reached could be an important first step towards understanding Alzheimer’s and for safeguarding our brain from neurodegenerative diseases.
This common diabetes drug would also protect neurons by defending the brain from Alzheimer’s
For some time, in the medical field, the hypothesis has been circulating that Alzheimer’s is a third type of diabetes. As in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, according to experts, those with Alzheimer’s would lose insulin receptivity at the neuronal level.
Following this hypothesis, researchers at Northwestern University wanted to test the effects of using rosiglitazone, an insulin-sensitizing drug, on neurons. The hypothesis of the scholars was that rosiglitazone, and consequently insulin, could defend neurons from Alzheimer’s damage. The results of the eminent study, published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” and reported by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, seem to confirm the starting hypotheses.
Could a drug that increases insulin effectiveness have positive effects on our brains?
As stated by the ISS, as we age it can happen that the cells of the brain progressively lose the effectiveness of insulin. This would make them more exposed to those toxins that are the main cause of Alzheimer’s. Thus, brain cells would become more prone to amyloid beta protein plaques, which cause cognitive decline and memory loss.
Northwestern University researchers tested the effectiveness of insulin application to protect cells and counteract the causes of Alzheimer’s. The study, done on the brain cells of rats, paid off. Adding insulin to nerve cells in these animals would appear to limit the effects of the Alzheimer’s-causing protein.
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Few use this drug but it would give great benefits against Alzheimer’s and dementia by improving memory and cognitive skills