Controlling diabetes important for slowing cognitive decline

August, 2012
  • Findings from a large, long-running study adds to growing evidence that poorly controlled diabetes is associated with faster cognitive decline.

The latest finding from the large, long-running Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study adds to the evidence that preventing or controlling diabetes helps prevent age-related cognitive decline.

The study involves 3,069 older adults (70+), of whom 717 (23%) had diabetes at the beginning of the study in 1997. Over the course of the study, a further 159 developed diabetes. Those with diabetes at the beginning had lower cognitive scores, and showed faster decline. Those who developed diabetes showed a rate of decline that was between that faster rate and the slower rate of those who never developed diabetes.

Among those with diabetes, those who had higher levels of a blood marker called glycosylated hemoglobin had greater cognitive impairment. Higher levels of this blood marker reflect poorer control of blood sugar.

In other words, both duration and severity of diabetes are important factors in determining rate of cognitive decline in old age.

Reference: 

Related News

A study involving 614 patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age 62) has found that longer duration of diabetes was associated with more brain volume loss, particularly in the gray matter.

Type 2 diabetes greatly increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, but a new study shows that cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels differ significantly between men and women with diabetes.

A mouse study has found that introduction of oral bacteria into the bloodstream increased risk factors for atherosclerotic heart disease, including cholesterol and inflammation, suggesting that the same bacteria that cause gum disease also promotes heart disease.

A large study, involving 3,690 older adults, has found that drugs with strong anticholinergic effects cause memory and cognitive impairment when taken continuously for a mere two months.

A new study adds to growing evidence of a link between sleep problems and Alzheimer’s. The interesting thing is that this association – between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s biomarkers — wasn’t revealed until the data was separated out according to BMI.

Family caregivers of dementia sufferers who are reluctant to use adult day care services might like to note the findings of a telephone survey. The study involved eight daily telephone interviews on consecutive days with 173 family caregivers who use an ADS on some days.

Last year, a cancer drug, Bexarotene, was touted as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. However, four independent studies have now failed to replicate the most dramatic result of the original study: a claim that the drug could clear half the amyloid plaques in a mere 72 hours.

I’ve been happily generous with cinnamon on my breakfast ever since the first hints came out that cinnamon might help protect against Alzheimer’s (it’s not like it’s an ordeal to add cinnamon!). Now a new study has revealed why.

Late-life depression is associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and, most predominantly,

Because long-term cognitive decline can occur in some older adults after undergoing surgery, there has been some concern that exposure to anesthesia may be associated with increased dementia risk.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news