Most of us have heard about type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but Type 3 diabetes barely puts a blip on the radar. Although discovered in 2005, this new condition is just beginning to pop up on the headlines of today’s science and medical news journals. Lay people still have a lot to learn.
When it comes to type 3 diabetes, Wikipedia doesn’t even have the answers. The relatively new discovery of the disease leaves people concerned about their health searching for answers. Read on for a quick primer on diabetes mellitus 3 and how it may be affecting your health or the health of your loved ones.
During a study conducted at the Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School, researchers made a groundbreaking discovery: the hormone insulin was not just produced by the pancreas as previously thought. After careful study of their subjects, the researchers discovered that the brain was also responsible to producing small amounts of insulin. This discovery led to several more important revelations.
One of those revelations was the discovery of insulin’s effect on the brain. One of those effects on the brain is the development of diabetes mellitus 3. Type 3 diabetes is a condition where the brain does not produce enough insulin. In the absence of insulin, the brain is affected much the way the body is in type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In fact, diabetes mellitus 3 only occurs in people who have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes already.
Diabetes mellitus 3 is also known as brain diabetes. This is because the brain requires insulin to form new memories. Receptors on the brain’s synapses help facilitate the communication that creates new memories. The insulin produced by the brain wards off amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs)that destroy those receptors.
In diabetes mellitus 3, the brain is either doesn’t produce enough insulin for new memory formation or is resistant to the insulin it produces. Without insulin, those insulin receptors die. Without those insulin receptors, the brain can’t form new memories.
This inability to form new memories is what produces the type 3 diabetes symptoms, signs and difficulties that mimic those of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Sufferers experience the memory loss and confusion that is typical of both diseases. Because of the similarity of these diseases, doctors often have trouble diagnosing diabetes mellitus 3 unless they are specifically looking for it using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning technology.
Diabetes mellitus 3 was only officially recognized as an illness in 2005. But doctors already know quite a bit about how to treat the disease. Much of that head start is thanks to the fact that the treatment for type 3 diabetes symptoms is very similar to the treatment for diabetes mellitus 2.
One of the keys to treating and preventing the onset of diabetes mellitus 3 is to exercise. Regular exercise three to five times a week combined with a healthy diet helps to maintain the healthy weight that wards off the disease. Obesity — especially in women — is a key factor in the onset of both type 2 and type 3 diabetes.
Doctors also treat diabetes mellitus 3 with the same drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes like regular doses of insulin and insulin-sensitizing rosiglitazone. These drugs actually slow and even prevent further memory loss. They do this by protecting the brain’s neurons from the damaging ADDLs.
Cholesterol build up is another similarity between diabetes of all types and Alzheimers. Certain preliminary trials have found that lipid lowering drugs used to fight high cholesterol are effective in treating diabetes mellitus 3. Today, many type 3 diabetes sufferers are turning to this drug for relief.
Diabetes mellitus 3 is a newly-discovered disease that leaves many questions still to be answered. But as we discover more about all types of diabetes, treatments are improving. If you or someone you know is suffering from the symptoms of type 3 diabetes, Mayo Clinic and Wikipedia searches aren’t enough. Contact your doctor as soon as possible to catch and treat type 3 diabetes in its primary stage.