The modern trend of increasing rates of obesity is a cause of concern for many. The effects of obesity range from emotional problems such as low self-esteem and bullying to health problems including cardio-pulmonary stress and diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent research points to results indicating that obesity may also be involved with mental problems such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Much of this conversation begins with insulin. Type II diabetes is a form of DM that occurs when the body begins to exhibit characteristics of insulin resistance. The body may also stop producing insulin properly. Insulin is needed to bring blood sugar into cells to be used as an energy source. Once called adult-onset diabetes, views about this disease are changing because it is now developing at a much younger age than previously observed. View the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website for more information on type II diabetes and children: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/cda2.htm
In addition to cell energy demands, insulin functions in cell signaling. When insulin is recognized by a receptor on the cell membrane, a chain reaction phosphorylation cascade occurs. Energy is used to continue the signaling pathway. At the end of the signaling process, gene expression can be influenced. Cell proliferation and growth is also a result. A blockade in this pathway, associated with aging, leads to cell death. Neuronal cell death is one characteristic of AD.
As early as 1999 a study in the Netherlands showed that DM was a risk factor associated with dementia. Over 6000 adults aged 55 and over participated in the Rotterdam Study, which included complete health screenings and follow-up either in person or using the individual’s health record. They found that the percent of dementia in that population that could be traced back to DM was 8.8% and most of those exhibiting dementia were also diagnosed with AD (Ott A, Stolk RP, Hofman A, et al. Diabetes mellitus and risk of dementia: the Rotterdarm Study. Neurology. 1999; 53: 1907–9.). Those with newly diagnosed or untreated diabetes had a lower risk factor for dementia than those that were insulin treated. In sum, those with more severe diabetes had a greater risk of developing dementia.
If type II diabetes is developing in adolescence rather than middle age, what does this say about Alzheimer’s disease? A trend often referred to as an “epidemic” by popular usage and the media, obesity is influencing health on a variety of fronts. Type II diabetes is strongly associated with obesity and so, therefore, is insulin. Findings of type II diabetes in children rather than middle aged adults is a twenty, thirty, even forty or more year advance in the disease. Could this “fast-forward” in deterioration translate to diseases that are associated with DM, such as AD? Granted, DM is a risk factor associated with AD, not a necessary cause, but this alarming trend may have far-reaching effects that cannot yet be foreseen.
Super-size Nation, Super-size Problems
