Insulin Resistance Tied to Language Problems in Women

A new study from Finland indicates that insulin resistance is associated with problems with verbal fluency in women but not in men, a finding that could affect these women’s risk for cognitive decline later in life. The research was published online August 12 in Diabetologia.

Both young and middle-aged adults without overt diabetes were included, and this is the first population-based study to show a link between female sex, insulin resistance, and problems with verbal fluency, say the authors.

“Our study adds to the accumulating evidence of insulin resistance being a risk factor for cognitive decline,” commented first author Laura Ekblad, MD, a researcher at the University of Turku, Finland.

Prior research has suggested that insulin resistance during midlife could increase later risk for cognitive decline and that brain insulin resistance might trigger the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

And other studies have pointed to type 2 diabetes as an independent risk factor for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

In fact, intranasal insulin has even been proposed as one potential therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, and research in this area, too, has unearthed gender differences, as suggested by better responses to intranasal insulin in women than in men, Dr Ekblad noted.