Health
Diabetes 'rewires' the brain in surprising way, study finds
Diabetes is known to cause many medical issues, from heart disease to vision problems — and now a new study suggests it could also impact memory and other cognitive functions.
After observing brain activity and behavior in rodent models, researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) determined that type 2 diabetes can “rewire” the brain in ways similar to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
“Diabetes may be altering the brain similarly to early stages of Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead researcher and UNLV psychology professor James Hyman in the release.
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“Further research is needed, but these findings have the potential to help researchers unlock clues to improved diagnostic or treatment strategies for the disease.”
Diabetes has been shown to impact memory and other cognitive functions. (iStock)
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Previous studies have shown that people with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders.
“Diabetes may be altering the brain similarly to early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.”
The reason, the researchers hypothesized, is that high blood sugar levels may impact the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a part of the brain that is involved in cognitive and emotional functions, according to a UNLV press release.
The ACC is linked to key cognitive processes like motivation, decision-making, goal-tracking, pleasure-seeking, reward processing and regulation of emotions, according to the researchers.
In people with diabetes, high blood sugar impairs reward signals from the hippocampus (the part of the brain that controls memory and learning) to the ACC.
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“Rewards, or achieving goals, are important to helping us make future decisions, so if our brains are responding differently, it’s likely our future decisions will be different,” Hyman told Fox News Digital.
“This has big implications for those managing their type 2 diabetes, since compliance with testing and lifestyle changes are key aspects.”
Researchers determined that type 2 diabetes can “rewire” the brain in ways similar to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. (iStock)
This could also explain why it is so hard for many people to stick with new diets and exercise regimens, Hyman noted, because their brains don’t respond to normally rewarding events due to the disease.
“This knowledge can help people persevere and remain diligent, since their failures are not due to personal weakness, but altered brain physiology,” he said.
“This kind of research opens new avenues not just for Alzheimer’s patients, but also for other diseases that impact the brain.”
Dr. Adam Scioli, chief medical officer at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania, said it is known that the reward system of the brain helps to imprint memory.
“It makes sense that any substance – like sugar – that impacts and overwhelms that reward system can have lasting impacts on cognitive and working memory,” Scioli, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
The concept of reward and memory in type 2 diabetes has some similarities to addiction, according to the expert.
“Both conditions also involve altered hippocampus-ACC connectivity, which affects goal-oriented behavior and memory processing,” he said.
High blood sugar levels may impact the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain that is involved in cognitive and emotional functions, the study found. (iStock)
“This kind of research opens new avenues not just for Alzheimer’s patients, but also for other diseases that impact the brain,” Scioli added.
“It also provides an avenue where we might be able to intervene earlier in these diseases and prevent or mitigate cognitive decline.”
More research needed
There were some limitations to the study, the researchers acknowledged.
“This was a study in rodents, so the translation to human conditions is challenging,” Hyman told Fox News Digital.
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“Additionally, we only modeled one aspect of type 2 diabetes — chronic hyperglycemia — and in humans there are more symptoms than that. It’s possible those other aspects may have different, either compounding or allaying, impacts.”
Hyman’s team plans to conduct further research into the connection between diabetes and brain function.
“Be patient and understand that the disease has rewired your brain.”
“Alzheimer’s disease goes undetected for decades because our brains are good at finding ways to compensate,” he said.
“Before diagnosis, people behave normally despite having changes in information processing. We even observed that in this study.”
Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that people monitor their own blood glucose levels. (iStock)
Based on these findings, Hyman hopes that people will be more likely to monitor their own blood glucose levels.
“If diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, be sure to follow doctors’ orders closely and keep blood glucose levels stable,” he advised. “We think it’s the spikes of extremely low and high blood glucose that make people more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.”
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For those having trouble with lifestyle changes, Hyman urged them to “not be so hard on yourself.”
“Be patient and understand that the disease has rewired your brain.”
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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