Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have succeeded in showing, in an animal model, that the process of insulin resistance in the brain affects both Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy and may be a linking factor between the two diseases.
The work, supported by FAPESP, confirms clinical evidence that people with epilepsy are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as they age. It is also not uncommon for people with Alzheimer’s disease to have seizures.
“In addition to demonstrating that insulin signaling in the brain, when altered, affects both epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease, the study reinforces the idea that Alzheimer’s disease is even more complex and therefore requires a broader therapeutic approach. Drugs that focus on just one feature of the disease tend to have a…