The cover picture shows a cell used in Alzheimer's disease research. The cell has been genetically engineered to produce amyloid precursor protein, which in turn forms the protein amyloid. Plaques of amyloid in the brain are a major pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease. In the present issue of Diabetologia (52: 2471–2474) Messier and Gagnon argue that the cerebrovascular lesions associated with diabetes combine synergistically with pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease to hasten cognitive decline. Type 2 diabetes may increase the impairing effects of other risk factors, so that if vascular disease targets the same structures that have sustained damage from other diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, the cognitive effects will be cumulative. This may hasten the progression of Alzheimer's disease or other dementia.
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Cover credit: SIMON FRASER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY