Older adults with type 2 diabetes show reduced blood flow linked to worse cognition

July, 2015

A study involving 65 older adults (average age 66), of whom 35 had type 2 diabetes, has found that after two years, those with diabetes had decreases in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain, and a reduced ability to regulate blood flow was associated with lower cognitive scores.

Specifically, at the start of the study those with diabetes scored an average 46 points on a cognitive test, compared with 55 in the control group. After two years, the diabetics' scores had fallen to an average of 41, while the scores of the control group hadn't fallen at all.

Greater decreases in blood flow regulation were also associated with higher levels of inflammation.

It's suggested that inflammation impairs blood flow regulation, and this accelerates cognitive decline.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/aaon-ssl070615.php

Reference: 

Chung, C.-C., Pimentel, D., Jor’dan, A. J., Hao, Y., Milberg, W., & Novak, V. (2015). Inflammation-associated declines in cerebral vasoreactivity and cognition in type 2 diabetes. Neurology, 85(5), 450–458. http://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001820

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