Researchers says diabetes may increase Alzheimer's disease risk

 According to researchers, diabetes may increase Alzheimer's disease risk

New research suggests that type 2 diabetes may up the risk for Alzheimer's disease by altering brain function.

A University of Nevada Las Vegas team showed that chronically high blood sugar could impair memory and alter aspects of working memory networks in rodents.

After using animal for research on the subject, the study author James Hyman, an associate professor of psychology was quoted saying:

"Diabetes is a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease, but it is not clear why.

"We show that a central feature of diabetes, hyperglycemia, impairs neural activity in ways that are similar to what is observed in preclinical Alzheimer's disease models," Hyman said in a university news release.

"This is the first evidence showing neural activity changes due to hyperglycemia overlap with what is observed in Alzheimer's systems.

"We know synchrony is important for different parts of the brain to work together. But, we're finding more and more these days, that the key with neural synchrony is it has to happen at the right time, and it has to happen with control.

"Sometimes, there's just too much 'talking' between certain areas and we think this leads to memory difficulties, among other things.

"In the models in our study, we're seeing evidence of that in real-time at these crucial moments to do the task," Hyman concluded.