People with diabetes appear to have a significantly higher risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in the journal Neurology . "Our results underscore the need to consider diabetes as a risk factor for dementia, " says study co-author Yutaka Kiyohara of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, who is convinced that "controlling diabetes is now more important than ever. "
For the study, which involved a total of 1,017 people over the age of 60, glucose tolerance tests were performed to determine cases of diabetes. Study participants were monitored for a mean of 11 years. During the study, 232 people developed dementia.
The results reveal that people with diabetes were shown to be twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia , such as vascular dementia, which occurs when there is damage to the blood vessels that ultimately deprive the brain of oxygen .
The results were the same after the researchers considered factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. The risk of dementia was also higher in people who did not have diabetes but had glucose intolerance (prediabetes). In addition, the researchers observed that the risk of developing dementia increases significantly when blood sugar levels are high two hours after a meal.
