- Researchers report that utilizing intranasal insulin might enhance cognitive functions in some individuals with dementia-related conditions.
- They said the insulin treatment appears to have the most advantages for individuals with Alzheimer’s illness and moderate cognitive disability.
- Other medical professionals, nevertheless, said they felt the research study was flawed and aren’t all set to suggest insulin as a treatment for these conditions.
Intranasal insulin might produce some positive cognitive advantages, particularly for individuals with Alzheimer’s illness and moderate cognitive disability, according to a
Researchers finished an evaluation and meta-analysis of 29 research studies with 1,726 individuals taking a look at intranasal insulin and cognitive function. The research studies were released in between 2001 and 2021.
The mean dosage of insulin was 40IU. Ten research studies analyzed the results of a single dosage. The others studied a number of dosages over a longer time, with an average duration of 8 weeks. The imply age of the individuals had to do with 53 years.
The scientists divided the individuals into 4 classifications of conditions:
Healthy, cognitively unimpaired people were likewise pooled.
The scientists reported that they did not discover a substantial distinction in cognitive function after dosages of intranasal insulin in individuals with psychological health conditions, metabolic conditions, and other conditions.
The researchers said they discovered substantial enhancement in individuals with Alzheimer’s illness and moderate cognitive disability.
“Patients with Alzheimer’s could have impaired glucose processing in the hippocampus (an area of the brain involved in human learning and memory),” Dr. Gayatri Devi, a neurologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York who was not associated with the research study, informed Medical News Today. “Intranasal insulin may help with this and improve cognition.”
One theory on why insulin can help enhance memory and cognition is that memory centers in the brain are either defective or cannot process sugar.
“It could be possible that the number of insulin receptors in the memory centers in the brain becomes faulty or are somehow deficient to process sugar, said Dr. Shae Datta, the co-director of NYU Langone’s Concussion Center and director of cognitive neurology at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island.
“Replacing insulin helps brain metabolism. Leading to the theory that brain insulin resistance can lead to cognitive deficits,” Datta, who was not associated with the research study, informed Medical News Today.
The adverse effects of intranasal insulin consist of:
The scientists concluded that intranasal insulin can be securely endured and has the possible to enhance memory by straight reaching brain areas included with the guideline of cognition.
The scientists did show that more research study is required to comprehend treatment action.
Not all doctor are satisfied with the research study.
“Overall, I was not impressed with the study,” said Dr Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California who was not associated with the research study. “Intranasal insulin has been tried for diabetes – and it failed.”
“I find it scary to give insulin to someone without an indication of diabetes. There is a risk of hypoglycemia when you give insulin to someone who does not have diabetes,” he informed Medical News Today. “This can increase their risk of heart attack or stroke.”
“I agree that it is good to repurpose drugs as it can improve choices for treatment,” Segil included. “But, this study does not support repurposing this drug for memory loss. I never used it in my practice.”
“This is a meta-analysis, so a statistical compilation of multiple studies, most of them quite small,” Devi said. “This is never as good a large double-blind placebo-controlled study as that would be important in making patient-related decisions. However, every patient needs to be treated individually and decisions regarding treatment protocols must also be tailored to the individual patient.”
“A large placebo-controlled study of intranasal insulin in the treatment of patience with biomarker-confirmed Alzheimer’s disease is still needed,” Devi included. “Part of the problem with older clinical trials of Alzheimer’s was that up to a third of patients who were diagnosed clinically with Alzheimer’s did not have it on pathology.”
Datta concurs that more research study is required.
“I think we need larger human clinical trials assessing positive improvement and lack of long-term side effects prior to use. I would like differentiating information about baseline cognitive status and groups compared to each other with varying doses to see if there is a benefit,” she said.
