When you hear the words Alzheimer’s disease, most people think of old age, and rightly so, the timeline of the disease is such that elderly people are most effected. Old age itself does not, however, cause the disease and recent research is now shedding some light on the actual culprit. Believe it or not, Alzheimer’s may soon be known as Type-3 diabetes, and like all types of diabetes, insulin and diet play a big role.
Insulin has many pathways throughout the body, it’s most commonly known for its recent role in the regulation of blood-glucose levels, or bloodsugar. In light of research, insulin may also be involved in Alzheimer’s. Insulin acts on receptors in the brain to activate a cascade of proteins and enzymes, known as the PI3-kinase/Akt/mTOR pathway, leading to the switching-off of a survival pathway involved in cleaning up neurons of dangerous misfolded proteins. This is where diet comes in to the story. High calorie, unhealthy diets can lead to many problems in the body and Alzheimer’s could potentially be one of them. An unhealthy diet will increase the amount of insulin released in the body which can lead to an over-activation of the PI3-kinase/Akt/mTOR pathway which can lead to the Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles associated with neural death and Alzheimer’s.
There are some promising drugs being studied that might help slow down or even cure Alzheimer’s disease. One such drug is rapamycin. Rapamycin works by inhibiting the mTOR enzyme which can stop the production of plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This would be a great breakthrough because, as of yet, there has been few therapies available to eliminate the growth and creation of these dangerous substances. With all of this new knowledge about Alzheimer’s, I expect more people to become informed and educated about the dangers of an unhealthy diet and the intricate pathways involved in Alzheimer’s disease.
Could Alzheimer's be a Disease of Over-Indulgence?
