Why Is Alzheimer's Disease Sometimes Referred to as Type 3 Diabetes?

Published on
January 6, 2017

Did you know that these two chronic diseases are similar? Both conditions are characterized by a loss of insulin sensitivity at the cellular level. This means that cells (regardless of whether they are muscle, liver, fat, nerve, or brain cells) are no longer responsive to the hormone insulin (they have become insulin resistant). In other words, these cells have become unable to use glucose effectively as a source of metabolic fuel. As a result, glucose remains in the bloodstream because the insulin needed to carry it into a cell does not work anymore. When glucose remains in the blood (“high blood sugar”), it combines with proteins that are also in the blood, and will eventually form plaques. In blood vessels, these “plaques” cause heart disease. In the brain, these “plaques” lead to loss of cognition and brain function, both of which are characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease - leading experts to label it Type 3 Diabetes.

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