Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a crippling condition, marked by amyloid plaque deposits, leading to tangles in brain neurology.  It is the most common form of dementia and affects over 26 million people worldwide as of 2006.  Predictions that 1 in 85 people worldwide will develop AD by 2050 have been substantiated.

AD typically begins with difficulty in recalling recent memories and progresses to pervasive confusion, irritability, mood swings and difficulties with language.  Most people know someone currently suffering from AD and it is widely held that research into understanding AD is prescient and needful.

The “amyloid hypothesis” posits that amyloid beta peptide deposits are primarily responsible for AD and is receiving much attention lately and rightly so, given the lack of substantive and useful results from AD research to this point.  A central component therein is insulin resistance in the brain – having been shown in many, if not all cases of AD.

One-such esteemed proponent and researcher, Dr. Suzanne de la Monte of Brown University, is exploring the possibility that insulin resistance in the brain (aka Type III Diabetes) could be the primary mode of action for the development these harmful deposits and ultimately, AD.  In “Brain Insulin Resistance and Deficiency as Therapeutic Targets in Alzheimer’s Disease” published in Current Alzheimer’s Research in September of 2012, her study purports that AD is primarily a metabolic disease and that mismanagement of blood glucose by insulin or insulin like-growth factor lies at the heart of the matter.  In summation, the study argues for the promotion of multi-modal approaches to treatment for AD, focusing on several levels of the insulin/IGF cascades.

Currently, mental stimulation, exercise and a balanced diet are the recommendations given to sufferers, though this recommendation could be given for any healthy person, or otherwise, to maintain proper health.

The original research paper was published in: Current Alzheimer’s Research (September of 2012)

“Brain Insulin Resistance and Deficiency as Therapeutic Targets in Alzheimer’s Disease.”

StressMarq offers an antibody specific for amyloid fibrils and another specific for amyloid oligomers, as well as a host of reagents for the related oxidative stress and neuroscience research fields.