Recent research findings offer new insights into the link between type 2 diabetes and brain-related health issues such as dementia and how a healthy lifestyle can help mitigate risks. Tatiana Maksimova/Getty Images
To help our audience catch up on the latest medical research
developments and insights from health experts, we highlight key findings and
takeaways from recent research studies that Medical News Today has covered in
depth in previous news reporting.
Three published studies in August focused on type 2 diabetes and
complications related to the condition that hundreds of millions of people are
living with worldwide.
One study indicates that maintaining stable hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)
over time can help mitigate dementia risk, while another found that a healthy
lifestyle can offset brain aging accelerated by diabetes.
In the United States, nearly 15% of all adults 18 years or older
had diabetes in 2021, and more than 90% of them had type 2 diabetes. Worldwide,
it is estimated that the prevalence of diabetes will drastically increase over
the next 20 years, according to projections by the International Diabetes
Federation.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person’s body can’t properly respond
to insulin or develops insulin resistance. As the disease progresses, the
pancreas produces less and less insulin.
Medical News Today regularly reports on peer-reviewed studies
related to type 2 diabetes. In this article, we highlight key findings from two
recent studies on the link between type 2 diabetes and brain health as well as
experts’ perspectives on the significance of the findings and insights into
type 2 diabetes prevention and management.
How do A1C levels affect dementia risk?
In a nutshell:
A study published August 2 in the journal JAMA Network Open
suggests that an individual’s hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels over time may be a
key indicator in predicting dementia risk. The findings concluded that
maintaining stable A1C levels in optimal ranges is linked to a decreased risk
of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in older adults.
Key takeaways:
The study authors used a measure called HbA1c time in range (TIR)
to examine blood sugar levels over time. Compared to A1C levels, which measure
average blood sugar levels over a three-month period, HbA1c TIR offers better
insights into how stable or “controlled” one’s blood sugar levels are over
time.
Higher HbA1c TIR indicates more stable blood sugar levels, and
lower HbA1c TIR suggests more instability in blood sugar levels.
The study recruited a large sample of 374,021 veterans with
diabetes. The average age of the participants was 73.2 years, and 99% were
male. Over a follow-up period of up to 10 years, 11% (41,424) of them developed
Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD).
Corresponding author, Paul R. Conlin, MD, medical service chief
for the VA Boston Healthcare System and professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School, offered the following insights on the study’s key findings: “We
found that patients who maintained a higher percentage time (at least 60% or
greater) with A1c levels in their target range had lower risk of Alzheimer’s
disease and related dementias. Dementia risks were particularly increased when
A1c levels were mostly below the target range.”
Twice a week you’ll get tips on eating wisely, news on
breakthroughs, and more resources to help you stay on top of your diabetes.
Existing evidence suggests that both prediabetes and type 2
diabetes can increase the risk for certain brain-related health issues. A new
study published on August 28 in the journal Diabetes Care reports that while
people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes may be at risk for accelerated
brain aging, making healthy lifestyle choices such as not smoking may help them
improve their brain health.
Key takeaways:
For the study, researchers analyzed MRI brain scans of more than
31,000 people between the ages of 40 and 70 from the UK Biobank. At baseline,
about 43% of study participants had prediabetes, and almost 4% had diabetes.
The team reported that both prediabetes was associated with a
brain age 0.5 years older than a person’s chronological age, while diabetes was
associated with a brain age 2.3 years older.
The findings also suggest that there was slight increase in the
gap between brain age and chronological age over time in those with diabetes.
However, these associations were reduced in participants who participated in
high physical activity, did not smoke, and abstained from heavy alcohol
drinking. It is important to point out that while this study showed
associations, causality has not been established.
Medical News Today interviewed Scott Kaiser, MD, a board certified
geriatrician and Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific
Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA, who reviewed this study. Kaiser
said while this study does not establish causality, it reinforces existing
evidence on how a healthy lifestyle can help effectively manage diabetes and
improve brain health.
“This study provides really great targets for lifestyle
interventions to promote brain health and that’s really important, again, when
you think about this not just (at) an individual level, but at a population
level,” Kaiser noted.
The study’s lead author, Abigail Dove, is a PhD student in the
Aging Research Centre (ARC) at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences
and Society at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Dove told Medical News
Today: “Diabetes is a well-established risk factor for dementia, but the role
of diabetes — and its preclinical manifestation, prediabetes — in the early
stages of brain aging is unclear. These are important questions from a public
health perspective because we need to understand how to protect the brain
health of people with diabetes as they grow older.”
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