Diabetes Linked To Faster Mental Decline (Dementia) in Adults
The recent study by the team of researchers at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, have found relation between diabetes and dementia. The study has established that the older people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to suffer from mental decline as they age. So far many studies have shown the relation between diabetes and dementia. The latest study published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, confirms earlier research on the similar subject.
For the study, the researchers from the Harvard Medical School in Boston have analyzed data from the Physicians’ Health Study and the Women’s Health Study, two long-term projects looking at the health of thousands of U.S. men and women.
The team of the researchers led by Dr. Olivia Okereke, looked at the association between diabetes and late-life cognitive impairment in 5,907 men and 6,326 women. Participants were in their early 70s, on average, when they were first assessed for memory, thinking and other cognitive abilities; they were tested again roughly two years later, and women had a third test around the four-year mark. The study find that in general, men and women with diabetes performed more poorly on the initial cognitive tests, then showed a more marked decline on subsequent tests.
As probable reason behind the problem, the researchers suggest some factors. One is, that diabetes damages the blood vessels that supply the brain, diminishing blood flow and thereby contributing to cognitive problems. And some researchers suggest that elevated insulin concentrations may boost the body’s levels of amyloid-beta protein, which build up to form the plaques seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: Tehran Times
Filed under Diabetes, Diabetes Drug, NIDDM
