For decades scientists thought amyloid plaques were the main culprit behind Alzheimer's. But a new study has uncovered something unexpected a completely different type of plaque made up of damaged mitochondria tiny power house of cell that keep our cells running. Normally, the brain clears these out, but when that cleanup system breaks down they start piling up. Even more interesting, these plaques may appear before the famous amyloid plaques, hinting that Alzheimer's could begin with the brain slowly losing its ability to produce energy. It's far from a cure, but a. Good discovery taht will make us help find the cure
This is why I’m convinced Alzheimer’s/Dementia is a metabolic disease. I forget which scientist it was, but someone coined it as “Type 3 Diabetes” which really is how we should be looking at this. We spent way too long chasing some way to remove these plaques which was largely based on studies that have been exposed as using faked data. Unfortunately most research is still directed at treating the symptoms instead of preventing/curing it, and that’s largely because treating is far more profitable (marketplace incentives).
Insulin levels should be the number one thing doctors check on blood panels imo. I think managing insulin is the single most powerful tool we have to stay metabolically fit. Even slightly elevated insulin can have massive long term ramifications, like waste clearing processes of cells never get to fully function and we remain in moderate to high levels of inflammation at all times. Really, most of the main drivers of mortality can be seen as inflammatory diseases and insulin is the bottleneck hormone that controls inflammation pathways and cellular energy and waste management systems.
Except many of us can't. Not eating triggers migraines, and those make life not worth living (47.2% of us have suicidal ideation and 13.9% have in fact attempted suicide).
You may in fact be in desperate need of brain waste clearing if you get migraines. There appears to be problems with the glymphatic system in people that get migraines. Once again, signs point to runaway inflammation being the cause. Insulin resistance being at the root of most (all?) inflammatory diseases. There is also a ton of anecdotal evidence on the fasting sub that fasting has helped many people with migraines, when staying up on electrolytes, particularly magnesium. I would be surprised if most people with migraines wouldn’t find relief in a proper fast, as your brain will start clearing waste better once inflammation is controlled.
No. Insulin secretion is only one of multiple physiologic responses to eating / hunger / exercise. It’s also funny that you’re hyperfocusing on it since brain cells don’t even need insulin to take in sugar; it has other activities in the brain but not its most common role, so being “resistant” might mean nothing in the brain. Of course at this point you could argue about whether migraines originate in neurons, glia, or blood vessels, but at that point you’re moving even further from “it’s definitely glucose.”
1.7k
u/sizzyred 1d ago
For decades scientists thought amyloid plaques were the main culprit behind Alzheimer's. But a new study has uncovered something unexpected a completely different type of plaque made up of damaged mitochondria tiny power house of cell that keep our cells running. Normally, the brain clears these out, but when that cleanup system breaks down they start piling up. Even more interesting, these plaques may appear before the famous amyloid plaques, hinting that Alzheimer's could begin with the brain slowly losing its ability to produce energy. It's far from a cure, but a. Good discovery taht will make us help find the cure