Updated 14 April 2005

Live Discussion: Is Alzheimer's a Type 3 Diabetes?

Suzanne de la Monte

Suzanne de la Monte (Brown Medical School) led this live discussion on 25 March 2005 from 12noon-1p.m. EST.

See Transcript of Live Discussion

Background Text

This live discussion focuses on two articles appearing in the February 2005 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, in which Suzanne de la Monte and her colleagues review a substantial body of evidence implicating reduced glucose utilization and defects in energy metabolism as an early and possibly causal event in Alzheimer's disease. The authors note that the diverse pathologies seen in AD, including Aβ deposition, neurofibrillary tangles, dystrophic neurites, cell loss, activation of cell death pathways, impaired energy metabolism and chronic oxidative stress, have been difficult to link together in a convincing framework. The authors hypothesize that defects in the central nervous system's own insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling mechanisms play an early and central role, and provide a unifying explanation for the diverse and previously disconnected pathologies that characterize AD. They further argue that these defects are independent of peripheral mechanisms in diabetes mellitus, and therefore propose that AD may be viewed as a "type 3 diabetes".

Do you find the evidence solid, or are there important discrepancies with other data that need to be resolved? Is this hypothesis convincing, or are there other unifying viewpoints that you find more compelling? What exciting opportunities for new research does this hypothesis present? We urge Alzforum members to read the articles, and come with your questions, critiques and enthusiasms to join this provocative discussion. You can participate either by logging into the live chat on 25 March, or by posting questions and commentaries by email (send to junekino@alzforum.org). We thank IOS Press and The Gerontological Society of America for permission to provide full-text access to the following articles:

See also Addendum: Rasgon N, Jarvik L. Insulin resistance, affective disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease: review and hypothesis. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004;59A:178–183. Full text (.pdf).
Copyright © The Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.