Mental block Insulin resistance is dangerous enough when it happens in the rest of your body. But when it happens in your brain, the effects go way beyond your average, run-of-the-mill case of diabetes (if there truly is such a thing). A recent study conducted at Northwestern University found that a toxic substance may cause insulin resistance in the brain, thereby blocking memory formation and hastening the onset of Alzheimer's disease. While this finding occurred in patients that had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, other studies have also found links between the disease and diabetes. In fact, several years ago, a different group of researchers even went so far as to refer to Alzheimer's as "type 3 diabetes" after they discovered that the brain produces insulin. And even before that, one study noted a 65 percent increased risk of Alzheimer's in people with diabetes. The researchers in the most recent study out of Northwestern University suggest that this link could be reversible, and they recommend using diabetes drugs, rather than Alzheimer's drugs, to treat it. But chances are good that you may not need drugs at all. Not only is there a test that can determine, years in advance, whether you have or are at risk for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, there are also numerous ways to tackle that risk and prevent diabetes -- and potentially Alzheimer's -- from ever becoming a part of your future. To read Dr. Wright's in-depth articles on uncovering and dealing with insulin resistance and diabetes risk, refer back to the July and August 2001 issues of Nutrition & Healing. Subscribers can download and view these issues for free by visiting www.wrightnewsletter.com and logging on with the username and password listed on page 8 of your most recent issue. And if you're not already a subscriber, the website also offers details on how to become one, as well as an additional one-time-purchase report by Dr. Wright titled "10 Natural Ways to Stop Diabetes in its Tracks." To learn more about this report, visit the Nutrition & Healing website, and click on the "Diabetes Prevention" link listed in the "Special NAH Reports" box to the right of the page. Sources:
"Amyloid beta oligomers induce impairment of neuronal insulin receptors," FASEB Journal 2007; published online ahead of print 8/24/07
"Is Alzheimer's a form of diabetes," Dr. Joseph Mercola's eHealthy News You Can Use (www.mercola.com), 10/16/07 | 
