It has been known already that diabetes increases the risk of people having a stroke or heart attack. It seems that those may not only be the ones that diabetics should worry about. A recent study indicates that diabetes may also increase a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
According to a new study conducted in Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, people with diabetes are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia such as vascular dementia which may occur when the blood vessels get damaged and deprive the brain of its oxygen supply. The said study findings were published in the September 20 print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The said study involved 1,017 people aged 60 years old and above. The test subjects were given a glucose tolerance test after an overnight fast in order to determine if they have diabetes. They were then monitored for an average of 11 years and then were tested for dementia. During the course of the study, a total of 232 people developed dementia.
The study found that people who suffer from diabetes were twice as likely to develop dementia as compared to people with normal blood sugar levels. Of the 150 participants with diabetes, 41 developed dementia as compared to 115 people out of the 559 participants without diabetes. The results remained the same after the researchers accounted for various factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking.
Source: American Academy of Neurology (2011, September 20). Diabetes may significantly increase the risk of dementia. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 21, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110919163947.htm
Tags: alzheimers disease, alzheimers risk, diabetes and dementia, Diabetes News, diabetes risk, diabetes study, vascular dementia