This article was in the Weekend Australian's Health section last weekend, April 23-24, and is by Justinen Ferrari.

I'm sure it goes without saying that Insulin Resistance is caused by a high-carb low-protein diet.

*appologies for any spelling mistakes, I've typed it all out myself.

Insulin resistance raises suggestions of a 'Type III' Alzheimer's diabetes

One of the most important medical discoveries of all time was the isolation of
insulin in the 1920s by a group of Canadian scientists.

Until then, children unable to make enough insulin did not live long, but in
1922 that all changed when the first diabetic patient was injected with
insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood by
enabling the body's cells to absorb it and burn it for energy.

There are two recognised types of diabetes: Type I, in which the body's
own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas,
and the much more common Type II, in which the body still produces insulin
but loses the ability to use it (insulin resistance).

Now scientists in the US have linked insulin resistance to the development
of Alzheimer's disease that causes dementia, suggesting it could be a new
"Type III" or brain diabetes.

Alzheimer's is characterised by a degeneration of brain cells, including cell
loss, impared cell metabolism and an accumulation of plaques between nerve
cells and tangles of filaments within neurons.

Scientists have previously thought there might be a link between diabetes
and Alzheimer's disease. There is also accumulating evidence that reduced
use of glucose by neurons and deficient energy metabolism in parts of the
brain occurs early in the development of Alzheimer's.

Inslulin resistance had not previously been thought to have distinct
manifestation in the brain, but a study by scientists at Brown Medical School
and Rhode Island Hospital printed in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(2005;7(1):45-61, 63-80) claims to have found evidence of disrupted insulin
processes, and even that insulin is produced in the brain as well as the
pancreas.

It says the drop in insulin production contributes to the degeneration of brain
cells that occurs early in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The research looked at a gene abnormality in rats that blocks insulin signalling
in the brain. The researchers say the "extensive abnormalities" are not like
those seen in Type I or Type II diabetes but are a more complex disease
process that occurs in the central nervous system.

Examination of the brain tissue of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's after
their death showed that insulin and insulin-like growth factors were
significantly lower in areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer's, including the
hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, the frontal cortex and the
hypothalamus.

However, insulin and insulin-like growth factors did not appear affected in the
cerebellum, whic his not affected by Alzheimer's.

The researchers conclude that the "striking reduction" in genes in the
centreal nervous system that encode for insulin, its growth factors and
receptors suggests Alzheimer's could be a neuro-endocrine disorder
esembling, but different to, diabetes mellitus.

Hi Carbrolet and welcome to the forum.

(As am Aussie you might be interested in joining the happy bunch at Empower - www.empowerfoods.com.au - click through to the forum).

This alzheimers connection is interesting (and worrying) and a good reason in itself to low carb. The concept was discussed a while ago here;
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/hea...cout524378.html

I would also be interested in how your CFS responds to a low carb diet. While I have never suffered from CFS, like a lot of people I have MUCH more energy on this WOL so that phenomenon may well help you.

Cheers,


Malcolm

I've always felt certain my father's alzheimer's is a result of his insulin resistance. He started in his 60's have really severe episodes of hypoglycemia where he'd practically black out. And all this while he's been stuffing himself with the worst sort of carbs. He's got the heart disease, high blood pressure, big belly and everything else to go along with the IR diagnosis. Do you think any doctor has actually diagnosed him as IR? No! I mentioned it at one doctors appt I took him to and the doctor said, "Hmmm... interesting thought". But I'm sure by that time he was too far gone for them to be interested in doing anything about it.

It can be frustrating trying to get doctors to recognise this type of thing, even more so when it's a loved one. I would hope that at some stage this kind of info is realized to be so important that it is well publicised, but I won't hold my breath. After all, the food pyramid was originally a marketing tool for kellog's, so common sense may not prevail over food producers' marketing dollars.

mcsblues - thanks for the links!

There is another smaller article in this weekend's Australian too:

Middle-age obesity linked to dementia
People, and particularly women, who are obese in middle age are at a greater risk of developing dementia in later life US research suggests. A 27-year study published online by the British Medical Journal looked at over 10,000 patients in the Kaiser Permanente medical insurance organisation who had medical checks from 1964 to 1973 when they were aged 40-45, and who were still memebers in 1994. In 1994 dementia was diagnosed in 7 per cent of the participants, and obese people - those with a body mass index of 30 or above - were 74 per cent more likely to have dementia. Being merely overweight, with a BMI of 25 to 29.9, were 35 per cent more likely to have dementia compared to those of normal weight. The associatoin was strongest among women: obese women were 200 per cent more likely to have dementia compared to normal weight women. The researchers said failure to counter the obesity epidemic might exacerbate the already expected increase in dementia.