Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Wednesday 13 April 2016
Scientists have long known that there is a strong association between diabetes and Alzheimer's, but the nature of that relationship - and how to treat it - was unclear. Now Melissa Schilling, an innovation professor at NYU, has discovered the pathway between diabetes and Alzheimer's, and it has big implications for how Alzheimer's can be prevented.
Professor Schilling compared and integrated decades of research on diabetes, Alzheimer's, and molecular chemistry, focusing in particular on results that seemed to yield conflicting results. It turns out that routine practices in research - like excluding all patients with known medical problems such as diabetes from an Alzheimer's study, for example - had obscured the mechanisms that connect the two diseases.
Those main mechanisms turn out to be insulin and the enzymes that break it down. The same enzymes that break down insulin also break down amyloid-beta, the protein that forms tangles and plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. When people have hyperinsulinemia (i.e., they secrete too much insulin due to a poor diet, pre-diabetes, early diabetes, obesity, etc.) the enzymes are too busy breaking down insulin to break down amyloid-beta, causing amyloid-beta to accumulate.
The American Diabetes Association estimates that roughly 8.1 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes and 86 million have pre-diabetes and have no idea. The good news is that hyperinsulinemia is preventable and treatable through changes in diet, exercise, and medication.
Schilling notes, "If we can raise awareness and get more people tested and treated for hyperinsulinemia, we could significantly reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease, as well as other diabetes-related health problems. Everyone should be tested, early and often, preferably with the A1C test that doesn't require fasting. Dementia patients should especially be tested - some studies have shown that treating the underlying hyperinsulinemia can slow or even reverse Alzheimer's."
B-School Innovation Professor Discovers Pathway between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease
Hyperinsulinemia leads to more than 40% of all Alzheimer’s disease cases
APRIL 12, 2016
In a new paper published by The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Professor Melissa Schilling, a strategy and innovation expert at the NYU Stern School of Business, uncovers a surprising new connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease: hyperinsulinemia, which is most often caused by prediabetes, early or undiagnosed diabetes, or obesity, is responsible for almost half of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease.
The American Diabetes Association estimates that roughly 8.1 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes and 86 million have prediabetes.
Professor Schilling conducted a large-scale review across disciplines of hundreds of published articles specific to the pathway between insulin and Alzheimer’s disease and focused on incongruencies in the literature. What she discovered, as a result, was a significant and new understanding of the relationship between these two distinctive diseases.
“What I’ve learned from my innovation research is that specialists can become trapped in the logic of their field, so new perspectives often come from outsiders,” said Professor Schilling. “If we can raise awareness and get more people tested for hyperinsulinemia, especially those who have been diagnosed with or who are at risk for dementia, it could significantly lessen the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, as well as other diabetes-related health problems.”
The findings have significant implications for both policy and practice, according to Professor Schilling:
IOS-press
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:
Unraveling Alzheimer’s: Making Sense of the Relationship between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists have long known that there is a strong association between diabetes and Alzheimer's, but the nature of that relationship - and how to treat it - was unclear. Now Melissa Schilling, an innovation professor at NYU, has discovered the pathway between diabetes and Alzheimer's, and it has big implications for how Alzheimer's can be prevented.
Professor Schilling compared and integrated decades of research on diabetes, Alzheimer's, and molecular chemistry, focusing in particular on results that seemed to yield conflicting results. It turns out that routine practices in research - like excluding all patients with known medical problems such as diabetes from an Alzheimer's study, for example - had obscured the mechanisms that connect the two diseases.
Those main mechanisms turn out to be insulin and the enzymes that break it down. The same enzymes that break down insulin also break down amyloid-beta, the protein that forms tangles and plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. When people have hyperinsulinemia (i.e., they secrete too much insulin due to a poor diet, pre-diabetes, early diabetes, obesity, etc.) the enzymes are too busy breaking down insulin to break down amyloid-beta, causing amyloid-beta to accumulate.
The American Diabetes Association estimates that roughly 8.1 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes and 86 million have pre-diabetes and have no idea. The good news is that hyperinsulinemia is preventable and treatable through changes in diet, exercise, and medication.
Schilling notes, "If we can raise awareness and get more people tested and treated for hyperinsulinemia, we could significantly reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease, as well as other diabetes-related health problems. Everyone should be tested, early and often, preferably with the A1C test that doesn't require fasting. Dementia patients should especially be tested - some studies have shown that treating the underlying hyperinsulinemia can slow or even reverse Alzheimer's."
B-School Innovation Professor Discovers Pathway between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease
Hyperinsulinemia leads to more than 40% of all Alzheimer’s disease cases
APRIL 12, 2016
In a new paper published by The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Professor Melissa Schilling, a strategy and innovation expert at the NYU Stern School of Business, uncovers a surprising new connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease: hyperinsulinemia, which is most often caused by prediabetes, early or undiagnosed diabetes, or obesity, is responsible for almost half of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease.
The American Diabetes Association estimates that roughly 8.1 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes and 86 million have prediabetes.
Professor Schilling conducted a large-scale review across disciplines of hundreds of published articles specific to the pathway between insulin and Alzheimer’s disease and focused on incongruencies in the literature. What she discovered, as a result, was a significant and new understanding of the relationship between these two distinctive diseases.
“What I’ve learned from my innovation research is that specialists can become trapped in the logic of their field, so new perspectives often come from outsiders,” said Professor Schilling. “If we can raise awareness and get more people tested for hyperinsulinemia, especially those who have been diagnosed with or who are at risk for dementia, it could significantly lessen the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, as well as other diabetes-related health problems.”
The findings have significant implications for both policy and practice, according to Professor Schilling:
- One-third of the US population is pre-diabetic yet doesn’t know it, but testing exists and should be used.
- All dementia patients should be immediately tested for glucose intolerance problems since intervention can slow or even reverse the disease.
- The general population should regularly be tested for glucose tolerance, preferably with the hemoglobin A1c test, which doesn’t require fasting.
- The FDA should consider requiring food manufacturers to print the glycemic index of their products on their labels.
IOS-press
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:
Unraveling Alzheimer’s: Making Sense of the Relationship between Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease
