Diabetics more prone to developing dementia

 

 

Lead author Rachel Whitmer said that their study found a higher risk of all-cause dementia in people with type 1 diabetes, and they now wanted to figure out how to help the patients age successfully, the Health reported.

 

She noted that the study only proved that the two diseases were linked.

 

The researchers reviewed records of more than 490,000 who were over 60 years old and had no history of dementia as of 2002, and found that 16 percent of the people with type 1 diabetes developed dementia while in the rest of the group 12 percent of people developed the disease.

 

Four percent more of people with type 1 diabetes than the whole sample developed all-cause dementia which was a real increase in the risk.

 

When the researchers removed people with type 2 diabetes from the general population sample, the association between type 1 diabetes and dementia became even stronger.

 

However, when the researchers adjusted the data to account for factors such as sex, age, race, stroke, peripheral artery disease and high blood pressure, the link between type 1diabetes and dementia decreased.

 

Whitmer said that it was possible that as in type 2 diabetes, high blood sugar levels may cause some sort of damage to blood vessels that could contribute to dementia in people with type 1 diabetes. But the reason behind the association wasn't clear from this study, and more research was needed.

 

She stated that Type 1 diabetes is a disease that requires constant vigilance and constant self-care and 83 percent of people suffering from it were more likely to develop dementia as seniors.

 

The findings will be presented at Alzheimer's Association International Conference, in Washington D.C. and are being viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.