Diabetes triples risk of dementia

A group of experts at King’s College London have found that older people with mild memory loss are three times more likely to develop dementia if they have diabetes . The researchers, from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, had their work published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The research team followed some 61 people aged 65 of over who had mild cognitive impairment. Of those who progressed to dementia over a four year period, seven had diabetes .
The Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, Rebecca Wood, reportedly commented: “This study shows that older people with both mild cognitive impairment and diabetes are at an increased risk of developing dementia. This finding could aid efforts to improve early dementia diagnosis . In the UK, two-thirds of all dementia patients remain undiagnosed, and much more research is needed if we are to improve hundreds of thousands of lives. 700,000 people in the UK live with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, a number set to double within a generation.”