Diabetes Of Brain !!

There are two forms of diabetes that most people are familiar with, type 1 and type 2. There could soon be a third type, however. Research into Alzheimer's disease (AD) shows a connection between how the brain processes glucose and the severity of protein plaques in the brain that are the hallmark of AD and other forms of dementia. A study commissioned by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health showed that when the brain doesn't break down sugar correctly, the result can be a form of "diabetes of the brain." Disruption in this brain function is directly related to symptoms of AD outwardly and within the brain structure. The researchers took measurements of glucose levels from cross-sections of brain tissue from different areas. Some of the regions included those known to be involved in AD pathology including the frontal and temporal cortex. Measurements were also taken from the cerebellum which is resistant to the plaques of tau protein found in dementia patients. Investigators organized the study participants into three groups: Patients who had symptoms of AD during life and beta-amyloid plaques found in post-mortem examinations, those with no signs while they were alive, but evidence of AD in the brain after death, and healthy individuals with no dementia symptoms or pathology. Glycolysis, the process that the brain uses to break down sugar was analyzed as well. The result showed that individuals that had poor glycolysis and higher levels of glucose in the brain also had more severe symptoms of AD during their life as well as more significant amounts of beta-amyloid plaques and nerve tangles in the brain.