A 17-year-old cohort study of over 30,000 people is entering a new phase, and the Atlanta-based Emory University just received $22 million to help usher it along. The objective? Type 3 diabetes is a phenomenon in health care research that continues to puzzle scientists, and the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center plans to uncover its secrets.
The Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia Cohort began nearly two decades ago as a way for researchers to study cardiometabolic disease in South Asia. But it’s grown much over the years, garnering over 115,000 person-years of data since its inception.
Having received a multimillion dollar grant from the National Institute of Aging, the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center will help pioneer the cohort’s next chapter: Precision-CARRS-Brain.
“Our collaboration with Emory started nearly two decades ago and it continues to evolve,” Dr. Dorairaj Prabhakaran, executive director of the Center for Chronic Disease Control, said in a news release. “With a phenomenal collective of experts we have on the Precision-CARRS-Brain team, understanding the link between cardiometabolic disease and Alzheimer’s will not only aid in early intervention and prevention, help produce innovative treatments, and improve patient outcomes at a local or national level but globally as well.”
The link between cardiometabolic disease and Alzheimer’s is the crux of Type 3 diabetes research. According to Mayo Clinic, researchers have known that Type 2 diabetes can increase a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But by the mid 2000s, the concept of Type 3 diabetes was beginning to take shape.
“What it refers [to] is that their brain’s insulin utilization or signaling is not functioning,” Mayo Clinic neuroscientist Dr. Guojun Bu said. “Their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is about 10 to 15 times higher.”
Type 2 diabetes is a medical term that concerns a person’s insensitivity to insulin. Type 3 diabetes is a phrase used by researchers that concerns how insulin insensitivity in the brain may cause Alzheimer’s disease. According to Healthline, research studies have even suggested classifying Alzheimer’s disease itself as Type 3 diabetes.
“Understanding the link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s could revolutionize how we approach both conditions,” Dr. Allan Levey, director of the Goizueta Alzheimer’s disease Research Center, told Emory University. “Our collaboration, supported by this significant grant, aims to uncover these connections and pave the way for innovative treatments that address the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases.”
As the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60% to 80% of all cases. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease was the sixth leading cause of death in the United States in 2019 and seventh leading cause during the pandemic.
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