Those with Diabetes May be at Higher Risk of Developing Dementia
Recent
studies have suggested a connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease
but researchers do not yet fully understand the connection. Moreover, while not all of the research has
confirmed a link, researchers say that people with diabetes, especially type 2,
appear to be at higher risk for eventually developing Alzheimer’s or other
forms of dementia.
One
of the things not yet known is whether taking steps to prevent or control
diabetes helps to reduce your risk of cognitive decline. However, we do know
that one of the complications of diabetes is damage to the body’s blood vessels
as well as the fact that diabetes is one of the risk factors for vascular
dementia, which causes a reduced or blocked blood flow to the brain.
Scientists
first suspected a connection between Alzheimer’s and diabetes when they realized
that the changes in the brain were very similar; and it has been hypothesized
that each of these conditions may fuel the damage caused by the other. With
new research, experts hope to get a better understanding of the connection
between the two diseases. “That link may
occur as a result of the complex ways that type 2 diabetes affects the ability
of the brain and other body tissues to use sugar (glucose) and respond to
insulin.”
We
also know that diabetes increases the risk of developing mild cognitive
impairment (MCI), which may eventually lead to full blown dementia. In addition, MCI can also appear years
earlier in people who later are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Source: mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/in-depth/diabetes-and-alzheimers/art-20046987
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