Bad News Food | Obesity-Diabetes-Schizophrenia Linked

Researchers have established a molecular connection between diabetes and schizophrenia, one that connects food and mood.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have discovered a molecular link between impaired insulin signaling in the brain and schizophrenia-like behaviors in mice. The findings, reported June 8 in PLoS Biology, offer a new perspective on the psychiatric and cognitive disorders that affect patients with diabetes and suggest new strategies for treating these conditions. via Science Daily

Researchers already know that insulin — the hormone that governs glucose metabolism in the body — also regulates dopamine, the brain’s neurotransmitter focused on attention and reward, and also motor activity. Disrupted dopamine signaling is already implicated in brain disorders including depression, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. 

To be clear — this research connects many Love to Eat dots already documented here at AOC. The scientific research between obesity and mental disorders grows stronger monthly. It’s truly time to recast the obesity debate out of body image and culture’s attacks on large-size women and onto the personal health platform, where it belongs. Anne