Type 2 diabetes is a prevalent disease in America where the body has too much glucose in the blood system. Many adults suffer from this and it results in insulin resistance. This poses a huge problem for the body because insulin is essential. It is needed to process the sugar that your body takes in. Another little known role of insulin is the one it plays in the brain. It plays a part in signaling in the brain and scientists have been noticing a possible link between type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer Disease. In fact is appears to be a significant risk factor. Alzheimer Disease is another disease that is on the rise and touches many families. It is characterized by dementia and loss of brain function and memory.
There is a lot of heavy science done to find the link. It is all very complicated so I will make it easy for you and tell you about some of what is going on. There are features of Alzheimer Disease that are seen a lot. Among these are neurofibrillary tangles. These can increase due to insulin resistance from type 2 diabetes. When this is the case, neurodegeneration can occur which can lead to Alzheimer Disease. Another feature of this disease is amyloid plaques. These as well can be increased due to insulin resistance, and dementia and Alzheimer Disease can follow.
America is famous for being obese as a country. We have lots of fast food and many people resort to this because it is the easy and cheap option. However a big problem we spoke about in our discussion of this topic was the ignorance of the public. A very small number of people in the world know about the research that has found the connection between diabetes, something many obese people suffer from, and Alzheimer Disease. Many people would not even believe you if you told them this. However there is a link and this could be something that could change the way people think about what they put in their bodies. But it is very difficult to educate the public. People already know that there are many benefits to eating healthy but they still eat food that is bad for them. People know that you can get diabetes from eating too much sugar, which is in so many of our foods yet they still eat and eat and eat. What is going to change this? Will the prospect of an increased risk of getting Alzheimer Disease and losing all memory and dying without knowing your own family’s faces be the tipping point? I wish we had the answer now. We can only hope that people will soon get the picture and start looking for ways to take in what is good while refusing that which does them harm.
