According to researchers at Northwestern University, insulin could have a link to a disorder of the brain, Alzheimer's disease. Some researchers are calling Alzheimer's disease "type 3" diabetes.
While insulin helps convert food into cellular energy, it has a different function in the brain, a means to learn and make new memories.
The brain's "memory function" fails in the face of an insulin shortage. Scientists also knew that Alzheimer's patients' brains have lower levels of insulin and are insulin resistant.
This finding will help shape future research in Alzheimer's therapy one of which could be in the development of drugs that can make brain cells' insulin receptors more responsive to the hormone.
Both diseases share many traits and risk factors, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and metabolic disorders.
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