I start to believe that the detoriation of the glucose transport at mid age is caused by a calcification of the veins and not primarily due to increased insulin resistance.
I am convinced that the double peak in the graph of MS onset is explained by:
1. at young age (first peak in graph of age of onset 25-30): by iron deposits on the vessel wall and an insufficient blood flow for a good supply of glucose.
2. at middle age (second peak in graph of age of onset 40-45), patients who already have a low glucose condition in their brains will now be affected by the normal process of atherosclerosis (of the veins). Years later they may develop diabetes, possibly due to increased insulin resistance also caused by the same atherosclerosis. This also explains the prevalence of diabetes in MS.
In summary, it is the developing atherosclerosis that constitutes the primary process for the detoriation of the glucose supply, not an increased insulin resistance as such.
Whether an early start with the anti-diabetes drug metformin (
http://www.metformine.com/ ) would help is a very interesting question. In any case, my triglyceride levels, and prior to my low fat diet, also my cholesterol were too high. And the risks/side effedts of this drug seem to be very low.
I think the answer to the question about the early start with metformin is very important! But I also sense a reluctance/resistance from medical practitioners that we (as patients) bring new concepts and insights that do not fall within the existing protocols. Like with CCSVI where we saw a huge resistance from the established order (from neurologists), it is not impossible that we will see again a resistance to this new insight from the established order (from endocrinologists/diabetologist).
Last night, I saw an interesting program on the Belgian TV on reserach into Alzheimer that talked about the competition between research teams worldwide over the last 20 years. In our case, we also see a lot of envy and competition. On top of that, we see the traditional vertical silo's of neurologists, vascular experts and endocrinologists, different micro-cosmos's as we saw, each with their own interests, motivations etc.
These vertical silo's have now been replaced by a bigger cloud or clouds of knowledge and ideas that fork into thousands of thin lines and pockets of information that proliferate as far as every remote corner of the world. With a very hungry and motivated public at the other end, that is us, and we are learning fast.
Just like with ccsvi, with the help the Internet and these social fora, this global circulation of ideas and brains will prove to be unstoppable.