Diabetics face greater dementia risk, according to study

Wed, 21 Sep 2011
New research from Japan has shown that people with type 2 diabetes are at a greater risk of developing dementia. The study by scientists at Kyushu University, which was published in the journal Neurology, involved testing 1,017 people over the age of 60 for glucose tolerance after overnight fasting to see if they were suffering from diabetes.

Those tested were then monitored for about 11 years before being examined for any signs of dementia. It was revealed that 27 per cent of the diabetics had developed dementia, as compared with 21 per cent of those without diabetes.

It was also shown that people with diabetes had twice the chance of developing a range of types of dementia including Alzheimer's disease, as compared to those with normal levels of blood glucose in their bodies.

Dementia, which is associated with a significant loss of cognitive abilities, is usually much less common for people under the age of 65. Correct diagnosis of the condition usually involved a specialist who has to separate out the different kinds of dementia, and the symptoms have to last for at least half a year before the diagnosis can be verified. However, with the relationship between diabetes and dementia being assessed in many different studies, no direct connection between the two has as yet been proven.

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