It has been known for some time that type 2 (adult) diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. It was generally assumed that this was because the blood vessel and heart disorders associated with diabetes are also risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. It is also known that the utilization of glucose is impaired in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, somewhat resembling the situation in the bodies of people with diabetes. New research tells us that the impairment in the Alzheimer brain may be because the brain is in a sort of diabetic state, even though the person may not be diabetic in the ordinary sense. It seems that in the brain of a person with Alzheimer's disease, either the production of insulin in the brain is reduced for some reason or the brain cells are becoming insensitive to insulin.
