Pre-diabetes is associated with dementia risk

People who develop prediabetes at a young age are more likely to have an increased risk of developing dementia later in life, according to a new US study.

Pre-diabetes exists when blood sugar levels are above optimal but not yet high enough for a patient to be medically diagnosed with diabetes. Unfortunately, millions of Americans under the age of 60 have prediabetes, many of whom are unaware of it.

“Pre-diabetes is associated with the risk of dementia, but this risk is explained by the development of diabetes,” authors Elizabeth Selvin, professor of epidemiology and PhD student Jiachi Hu, said in a news statement. . Both are at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

the study, published on wednesday Diabetologia analyzed data from. Risk of atherosclerosis in the community study. Enrolled people from her 45 to her 64 in his four counties in the United States (Forsyth County, North Carolina). Jackson, Mississippi. suburb of Minneapolis. and Washington County, Maryland.

Study participants who developed type 2 diabetes before age 60 had three times the risk of later dementia compared to those who did not develop type 2 diabetes before age 60, the study found. . If prediabetes progresses to type 2 diabetes between the ages of 60 and 69, the risk is reduced, but by only a few points.

“We all have occasional spikes in blood sugar, up and down,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and health at National Jewish Health in Denver. He was not involved in the research.

“But when you look at ‘glycemic years’ to determine how high your blood sugar is and how long it lasts, you start to see cumulative damage,” says Freeman. “And the earlier exposed, the greater the level of cumulative damage.”

At that point, the study found that the risk of dementia dropped to 23% if type 2 diabetes was not diagnosed until the age of 70. Also, if he developed type 2 diabetes in his 80s or 90s, the risk was no greater than for people without diabetes.

“There was a strong association between pre-diabetes and dementia, but this association existed only in those who developed diabetes,” Selvin told CNN by email. “This finding suggests that preventing the progression of prediabetes to diabetes may help prevent dementia in older adults.”

Dr. Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer’s researcher and preventive neurologist at the Florida Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, said the results were not shocking.

“I’ve been screaming this from my rooftop for over a decade,” Isaacson, who was not involved in the study, said in an email. “This study will certainly improve brain health if people actually take action when they are diagnosed with ‘borderline diabetes’ or pre-diabetes.”

what is prediabetes

More than 1 in 3 American adults have pre-diabetes, and 80% of those don’t even know they have diabetes, according to the WHO. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Almost the third of them They range in age from 18 to 44 years old, which is too young to develop type 2 diabetes, significant cardiovascular disease, and vascular dementia with increasing age.

To make matters worse, nearly 1 in 5 young people aged 12-18 and 1 in 4 young people aged 19-34 have pre-diabetes. CDC said.

CDC Estimate About 5.8 million people in the United States are reported to have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. And according to a study cited in the 2019 report, Alzheimer’s Societythe lifetime risk of the most common form of dementia is approximately 1 in 10 (10%) for men aged 45 and 1 in 5 (20%) for women.

a 2013 meta-analysis Type 2 diabetes was found to be associated with a 60% increased risk of all-cause dementia. Additionally, people with dementia who have type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of early death.

The exact relationship between diabetes and dementia is unknown, but research suggests several possible pathways.

“Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, which damage the heart and blood vessels. Damage to blood vessels in the brain may contribute to cognitive decline.” According to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Additionally, high blood sugar can cause inflammation and damage brain cells, the association said. Even people in the early stages of type 2 diabetes show signs of brain dysfunction.

Studies have shown that type 2 diabetes dramatically increases levels of beta-amyloid protein in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, the association said.

This study is not the first to find a relationship between early onset diabetes and dementia.a 2021 survey A UK study found that having diabetes more than 10 years ago increased the risk of dementia by more than 18%.

Risk factors for prediabetes

Pre-diabetes is known as the silent predator and develops and progresses without apparent symptoms. However, there are also risk factors.

If you are overweight, are over the age of 44, exercise less than 3 times a week, have a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes, have had diabetes during pregnancy, or have had a child over the age of 9, Increased risk of developing pre-diabetes. Pounds (4 kilograms), according to the CDC.

Some groups are also at increased risk, including Blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, and Asian Americans. To screen for your personal risk: I take a test Provided by the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

of United States Preventive Services Task Force We recommend that all adults between the ages of 35 and 70 who are medically considered overweight or obese should be screened for prediabetes or diabetes. If you’re worried about your blood sugar levels, you can reduce your risk by losing weight, exercising, eating healthy, and avoiding processed and ultra-processed foods.