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Diabetes medications can help people with Alzheimer's disease by reducing their memory loss less severely.
According to the Daily Mail, scientists wanted to understand why patients with type 2 diabetes with Alzheimer's disease had fewer protein clusters that caused memory loss in the brain.
By examining tiny blood vessels in the brains of people with both conditions, they found that those treated with antidiabetic drugs were in better condition.
They believe that insulin and metformin, medications that help people regulate their blood sugar levels, also preserve blood vessels in the brain.
According to the team at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine, this could prevent the toxins that can cause dementia from entering.
Scientists examined the brains of 34 Alzheimer's patients treated for type 2 diabetes, 30 non-diabetic people with Alzheimer's and 19 unaffected people.
Professor Vahram Haroutunian, lead author, said, "This does not mean that people who do not have type 2 diabetes should be taking antidiabetic drugs to improve their Alzheimer's disease.
"It would not be ethical, but the results could lead to more targeted treatment for people with Alzheimer's disease, given what we know now."
It is becoming increasingly clear that people with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of dementia, with experts suggesting that four out of five people with Alzheimer's disease also suffer from this type of diabetes.
The new study published in the journal PLOS One suggests hope that antidiabetic drugs could also reduce the severity of devastating brain disease.
Most people whose brain was analyzed during the study were taking insulin or the cheap and common diabetes drug metformin.
Evidence from cerebral capillaries suggests that they reduce the abnormalities of blood vessels seen in Alzheimer's disease, which can help eliminate toxins and provide important nutrients.
Professor Haroutunian said, "Most modern treatments for Alzheimer's disease target amyloid plaques and have failed to treat this disease effectively.
"This opens up opportunities for conducting research trials on people using drugs that are similar or have similar effects on the biological pathways of the brain and the types of cells identified in this study."
Dr. James Pickett, Director of Research at the Alzheimer Society, said, "This study raises the exciting possibility that anti-diabetic drugs could improve the blood supply to the brain, helping to keep it healthy and prevent damage in people with Alzheimer's disease.
"The next step is to see if these diabetes medications will improve the symptoms in people with Alzheimer's disease.
"We are funding research for this purpose, which brings us closer to the search for a cure for dementia."
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