Alzheimer’s linked to hunger hormone

A person’s risk of contracting Alzheimer’s may be linked to levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin, according to a US study published on Wednesday which could point the way toward future treatment of the disease.

A person’s risk of contracting Alzheimer’s may be linked to levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin, according to a US study published on Wednesday which could point the way toward future treatment of the disease.

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The Journal of the American Medical Association said scientists in Massachusetts found that high levels of the hormone leptin, which controls appetite, appears to be related to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

“These findings are consistent with recent experimental data indicating the leptin improves memory function in animals... and strengthens the evidence that leptin is a hormone with a broad set of actions in the central nervous system,” said the authors of the study, researchers with the Framingham Heart Study, a research project under the direction of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Leptin sends a signal to the brain after a meal that a person has had enough to eat, thereby reducing the urge to eat.