Two potentially significant discoveries about insulin may shed new light on how Alzheimer’s disease affects the brain.The first discovery is that insulin is produced in the brain; the second is that Alzheimer’s patients have impaired insulin production in their brains. “Insulin is made in the brain. Previously it was thought to be made only in the pancreas,” said lead researcher Dr. Suzanne de la Monte, an associate professor of pathology and medicine at Brown University. “In Alzheimer’s disease, the production of insulin in the brain is substantially reduced.” In experiments with rats, de la Monte’s team found insulin is produced in several areas of the brain. The researchers also discovered that reducing the production of insulin in the animals’ brains added to the deterioration of brain cells, an early sign of Alzheimer’s.

When de la Monte’s team looked at brain tissue from deceased Alzheimer’s patients, they found that insulin production was severely curtailed in areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s. Insulin is very important for maintaining brain cell function, de la Monte said. “If you don’t have enough insulin or the ability to respond to insulin is impaired, then neurons will not function well and they probably will die,” she explained.

In addition, de la Monte thinks the lack of insulin production in the brain may also play a role in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. -Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Dr. Keith & Laurie Comments: Insulin and Alzheimer’s The most important part of this research is not that insulin affects Alzheimer’s but that the brain can produce insulin. Do you know what this means? It means that God created our bodies as an awesome temple of His Spirit. Awesome because if one area is no longer working, another part can pick up the slack and do whatever is necessary to heal and maintain total health. This means your body is a whole. The Body, Mind, Spirit covenant. Each part working together for the common good of the whole. We have seen patients with no thyroid gland secrete thyroid hormone just as the patients with low insulin can secrete insulin from their brain. What does it all mean? If you take care of your body, it takes care of you in ways you can not even imagine.

tags: alzheimers, insulin,total health

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