Nina Byers
9/13/11
A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimer’s
In an article recently published in the New York Times, it has been reported that shots of insulin, through the nose, may delay the development or reduce the effect of Alzheimer’s. This discovery evolved from a study conducted by Suzanne Craft, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington in Seattle and director of the memory disorders clinic at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. In the four-month study, they divided the subjects into three groups. One got a placebo, one got 20 international (universal) units of aerosolized insulin a day, and the third group was given 40 international units a day. The group that was given the aerosolized insulin through the nose twice a day either remained the same or improved in assessments of their ability to handle daily activities and memory tests. Those who received the lower dose (20 units) of insulin seemed more effective than the higher one (40 units) and the patients on the placebos got worse. The reason insulin is the drug of choice for the study is because a trademark of Alzheimer’s is a reduced metabolism in the brain. Glucose is the fuel for brain cells and once it is less available, the metabolism slows. However, when insulin is in the cerebral system, patients used more glucose in their brains, thus improving their memory. Further, when an individual is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a toxic protein called beta amyloid accumulates in the brain and restricts insulin flow. For Dr. Craft, it is clear that the solution appears to be insulin, however, they needed a way to give their patients insulin to the brain, without it flowing to the rest of the body. Hence, the nasal spray. This squirt of insulin is injected deep into the nose so it can travel along the path of nerves to the brain. However, this device is not widely available and this study with insulin is still inconclusive as only a few have been conducted and the idea of injecting a chemical through the nose is a novelty to the medical world.
This study conducted by Dr. Craft represents a huge leap in Alzheimer’s research. Understanding the effects of insulin are crucial to the development of a cure. The studies must being somewhere and with Dr. Craft and her team they appear to be off to a good start. Yet, the article mentions that, “Dr. Martha Daviglus of Northwestern University, who led a panel last year that assessed published papers on preventing and treating Alzheimer’s, urged caution.” She preaches patience, for oftentimes brilliant discoveries in small case studies can “fall apart in larger or longer ones.” Like any discovery , taking advantage of insulin needs to be developed with care, but it appears that Dr. Craft is headed in the right direction.
The article itself, written by Gina Kolata of the New York Times, is clear and concise. She does an excellent job in examining not only Dr. Craft’s findings, but also opposing viewpoints. Kolata is aware of her audience and also explains different aspects of Alzheimer’s, without delving too deeply into confusing or complicated concepts about subjects such as the molecular make-up of insulin and how exactly it can travel on the nervous system. Though I, personally, would be interested to find out. Overall, this was an interesting article and I look forward to seeing the evolution of a drug for Alzheimer’s and the use of insulin to cure diseases.
Kolata, Gina. "A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimer's." New York Times. 12 Sept. 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2011.
After reading Nina’s review I became very interested in how doctors are treating and preventing Alzheimer’s. While I was reading I realized Nina’s information was very clear and easy to understand. Nina was also able to use the right amount of detail, referring to the experiments, and she provided a better read by referencing the article. As a reader, I was able to understand a very complicated problem by Nina providing key ideas that related to Alzheimer’s. In addition Nina did a great job at conveying hope for the future but reminded us that this article is referring to a small case study, which often fall apart in larger ones.
ReplyDeleteI think one thing that would have made this review better would have been a specific example of an individual anecdote. To help any reader understand the overall meaning of this article more, maybe Nina could have added some further analysis of the insulin. For instance, She could have mentioned what other areas insulin is used in. Also I think adding any other evidence of insulin delaying Alzheimer’s would have given Nina’s review a much more impressive appeal.
I was very impressed by learning how Alzheimer’s works and how we are attempting at preventing it. I found it very interesting that this four-month study was showing improvements in individuals’ memories.
I felt that Nina’s review of the article, “A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimers”, efficiently described an interesting topic. Nina did a good job at describing exactly what is done to the patients and how it is done with good detail. She also did a great job at describing why exactly insulin is the drug of choice for this treatment and why it is used up the nose. This helped it to appear that the doctors and researchers mentioned are making serious developments rather than using random ideas in hopes of them working. Additionally Nina made it easy to understand all the complex doses and techniques used in the method. Although the seemingly random and unusual information could be easy to misunderstand, Nina simplified it easily and made it easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteI felt that although Nina did an excellent job she could have improved by using specific examples on how this treatment was successful. In doing this it would make the experiment seem more successful and hopeful. Additionally I think that Nina could have improved by further describing where the scientists are heading in the immediate future. This could have added more details and info that would make it easier to see how close they are to curing Alzheimer’s.
One thing that I personally learned and was impressed by is how unusual the method of inserting insulin is. The fact that it is used up the nose shows just how innovative and productive these scientists are and makes me all the more hopeful for the future developments in this field.
I found Nina’s review of the article, “A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimers,” to be very interesting, and it covered a very intriguing topic. Nina did an excellent job of providing potentially complicated information clearly and concisely. She always went into the right amount of detail at the right times, knowing when to provide detailed specifies to offer the reader greater insight, and knowing when these details wouldn’t really add anything to the review. Furthermore, I was very pleased with the fact that Nina described exactly how the experiment was carried out. But, 3 treatments is hardly enough to make any concrete conclusions and Nina was insightful in pointing out that although there is some optimism that this could be a feasible solution for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, it may not end up being the end all be all cure that everyone is hoping it will be. Finally, Nina did a great job explaining why the nasal spray is so effective, and why insulin is effective in fighting Alzheimer’s, and I found these facts to be very interesting, as I had no idea that bodily insulin and glucose levels were connected to Alzheimer’s at all.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would have liked to know was exactly to what extent did the treatment help. As in, was there just a slight improvement in the subjects’ memories, or was the improvement vast. Providing specific examples of particular subjects’ improvements would useful information. Next, I think it would’ve been nice if Nina had discussed how close this drug is to potentially being used. Are we going to be waiting years for this drug to be available for public use? I really want to know whether this drug is going to be a solution for Alzheimer’s in the here and now.
One interesting thing I am impressed by is how big of a breakthough this drug is in the fight against Alzheimer’s. For years, scientists have not had a clue at how to attack and conquer the disease, but now, Dr. Craft’s discovery gives the millions suffering from the disease hope.
I thought Nina’s review of the article “ A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Insulin” to be extremely well thought-out and thoroughly researched. One thing that Nina did extremely well was she outlined not only what the shot of insulin would do but also how it was tested and the way it would be administered. The information presented was logical and easy to follow so it was easy to follow. One thing I found interesting about the article is that too much insulin (40 units) was worse for the patient than a lower dosage of 20 units. Another interesting point was that the reason insulin is so effective with Alzheimer’s patients is that Alzheimer’s slows down the brain’s metabolism and a quick shot of glucose to the brain helps to fuel it and thus increase memory function. Although this seems like quite a step forward in curing Alzheimer’s, as Nina says it is important to realize this is a somewhat isolated case study and that much more research must be done in order to support this information. One thing I would have liked to have known is what the next step will be in this process or if there are any other ideas in motion to test similar solutions. Furthermore it would have been interesting to know if the increase in memory function was significant or just marginally better. Overall I found this article extremely interesting and thought Nina’s review did an excellent job of informing us not only of the details of the article but also giving us some more in-depth analysis
ReplyDeleteNina’s review of “ A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimers” in my opinion was very well written and contained alot of interesting information. I really liked how Nina explained why Insulin was the drug of choice when doctors wanted to find a cure for Alzheimers. She delivered a very concise and detailed explanation of how insulin affects the brain when inserted through the nostrils. I also liked how she did not just say that they tested it, but she laid out the three different scenarios they preformed on the different subjects,(placebo, 20 international, and 40international).She also did a great job at explaining why the insulin had to be inserted nasally opposed to other sort of ways of taking out, such as orally or intervenusly.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that i would have liked to know about were the types of subjects that were being tested on. How serious are their cases of Alzheimers? What gender and race? Many of these factors would have been interesting to see. Another thing I would have liked to read is why the scientists think this is the breakthrough they were waiting for if many of the tests have resulted as inconclusive.
It was very interesting to read how the various injections of insulin are showing improvements to a disease that has been puzzling doctors everything. Hopefully with more research this technique can be used to cure the thousands of people that are affected by Alzheimers.