Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent in our society than ever before, owing to rising rates of obesity, inactivity, and an aging population. Diabetes deaths decreased in high-income countries from 2000 to 2010, but then increased from 2010 to 2016, resulting in a 5% increase in premature deaths since 2000. Particularly concerning is the fact that type 2 diabetes is now becoming more common in children as a result of obesity and inactivity.
For many years, it has been known that type 2 diabetes increases your risk of stroke and heart disease. Diabetes has also been linked to an increased risk of dementia in recent studies. However, it has not previously been investigated whether the age of onset of diabetes affects your risk of developing dementia.
New research on the age of onset of diabetes and the risk of developing dementia has been published.
Using a large, ongoing cohort study, a newly published study investigated the relationship between the age of onset of diabetes and the development of dementia. The cohort was formed in 1985–88 among 10,308 London-based government employees aged 35 to 55 years (33 percent women, 88 percent white). At the ages of 55, 60, 65, and 70, researchers collected data on diabetes exposure, including fasting glucose and the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score. (Age, family history of diabetes, personal history of elevated blood glucose, fruit and vegetable consumption, blood pressure medication, physical activity, body mass index, and measured waist circumference are all factors in the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score.)
The primary outcome measure was dementia from any cause. In addition to diabetes, they looked at age, gender, race, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, high blood pressure, body mass index, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, medications, and the Alzheimer’s risk factor gene, apolipoprotein E.
Diabetes’s long-term impact on dementia.
1.710 diabetes cases and 639 dementia cases were registered from 1985 to 2019. The dementia levels were 8.9 for those without diabetes at age 70 for every 1,000 individuals examined every year. The rates for diabetes were 10.0 for those with an initial age up to the previous five years, 13.0 for the previous six to 10 years, and 18.3 for the preceding ten years. The rates for diabetes are comparable. These striking results show that the sooner you develop diabetes, the higher your risk for dementia.
How can diabetes cause dementia?
Many causes can lead to dementia for years of type 2 diabetes. One reason is that diabetes has an effect on the heart as heart condition is connected with the health of the brain. Heart and hypertension are both related to strokes that can lead to dementia in turn. However, strokes do not appear to be the answer because certain studies have found that even if strokes are controlled for, diabetes has led to an increased risk of dementia.
Another factor is the episodes of diabetes-typical hypoglycemia. While tight controls have been shown to reduce the long-term risk of heart disease and stroke, tight controls can also lead to hypoglycemia, loss of memory, and dementia. It is probably because low blood sugars damage the hippocampus—the brain memory center.
One of the most fascinating assumptions is that diabetes causes Alzheimer’s disease straight away. Indeed, due to the molecular and cell physical characteristics shared among diabetes and Alzheimer’s, Alzheimer’s disease is even called “Type 3 diabetes.” Insulin, for example, plays a key role in the formation of amyloid plaques and also contributes to tau phosphorylation, leading to neurofibrillation tangles. While resistance to insulin in the body could cause type 2 diabetes, brain insulin resistance can lead to Alzheimer’s disease plaques and tangles.
Reduce your chances of developing diabetes and dementia.
The good news is that your risk of type 2 diabetes and dementia can be reduced. Talk to your doctor today if the following lifestyle changes are right for you. Note that even if you are diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes, these changes in life are useful.
- Take aerobic exercise for five days every week for at least 30 minutes a day.
- Keep your body weight healthy.
- High blood pressure should be treated.
- High cholesterol should be treated.
- Don’t smoke.
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