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Diabetes of the Brain
publication date: May 17, 2011
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author/source: Arthur De Vany
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The New Evolution Diet has a fair amount on this subject and the topic is receiving more attention in the medical arena. Here is a quick rundown on KevinMD.com of the role of insulin in the brain and how insulin reisistance affects the brain. Members will find other posts on this topic, particularly one pointing to a study done by my friend Dr. Robert Krikorian who showed that a ketogenic diet improves mental function in Alzheimer's patients. And there is one even titled diabetes of the brain; press coverage of the topic with refs. to the underling research. And, then I point to the diminished brain mass that accompanies severe obesity (in the book) as a kind of brain starvation. The role of insulin is different in the brain and in the body (what they call the periphery in the med journals). Its central function is the same, that of facillitating the entry of nutrients and glucose to brain cells, but its inflammatory properties differ. Insulin is inflammatory in the periphery, but anti-inflammatory in the brain. It looks like the brain-blood-barrier can become saturated with glucose, a kind of traffic jam, and that diminishes the amount that is delivered to the brain. Competition for transport is just another form of the quite general competition that goes on inside us. Not hard for an economist to see. Thanks to Tom K for sending this link. Nothing new here, but a nice summary.
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