Neuron Glucose Metabolism & Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease, a degenerative, ultimately fatal brain illness, seems to favor people with diabetes, a glucose metabolism disorder. The brain, like other parts of the body, must use a sugar called glucose for fuel, and the same protein that helps regulate glucose production also appears to protect against Alzheimer's. Until we understand more about this interaction, however, treatment can only delay the inevitable outcome of the disease.

Alzheimer's Disease

• Alzheimer's Disease causes irreversible brain damage. The illness causes collections of cells called amyloid plaques to form in the brain. Tangled fibers also grow and spread throughout the brain tissue, disrupting communications between neurons. As the plaques and tangles continue to invade the brain, neurons die and the brain begins to shrink. Alzheimer's patients experience memory loss, confusion, the inability to perform simple tasks and emotional upset. The patient dies when the brain can no longer support physical functions.

Brain Metabolism

• The healthy brain uses its network of neurons to communicate not only thoughts, but messages that regulate metabolism. This complex organ keeps itself running by converting the glucose into carbon dioxide and water. A paper from the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland suggests that communications between neurons help regulate the energy levels in the brain at the cellular level.

The Diabetes-Alzheimer's Connection

• While glucose makes the brain operate, too much glucose in the blood can wreck it. Diabetes, a disease of the pancreas, causes the body to lose control over its glucose levels. Diabetes causes serious damage to the the blood vessels that feed the brain, causing mental confusion. Diabetics also appear to run a greater risk for Alzheimer's Disease, though the reasons have not yet been determined.

Humanin

• The link between Alzheimer's Disease and diabetes may lie in a cellular protein called humanin. A joint study by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and UCLA showed that this protein helped improve blood-sugar levels in diabetic rats. Humanin also seems to protect neurons from damage, which may explain why people become more susceptible to both diabetes and Alzheimer's in later years, when humanin levels decline.

Treatment

• While humanin therapy may eventually play a major role in Alzheimer's treatment, current medical options remain limited. Certain drugs can help patients retain some of their mental skills by regulating the transmission of messages between neurons, while others aid in the patients' emotional difficulties, but none can stop or reverse the ravages of the disease. Until new treatments arrive, a healthy lifestyle of proper nutrition, strong social networks and regular mental stimulation remain our best bet to prevent or delay the disease's onset.