Type 2 diabetes can accelerate brain aging

Type 2 diabetes can accelerate brain aging


The harmful effects of Type 2 diabetes are well known: heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease and other problems. Now, add brain aging and cognitive decline to that list.

For people with progressive Type 2 diabetes, brain aging is significantly accelerated compared with those who don’t have the disease. That’s the main finding by researchers at Stony Brook University in New York. To determine that, they first had to separate the effects of normal brain aging from diabetes-induced aging. Using a database of more than 20,000 people ranging in age from 50 to 80, they sorted brain data and scans according to diabetes diagnoses. A meta-analysis of nearly 100 other studies was then used to confirm the findings.

The results were clear: Brain aging in people with Type 2 diabetes follows a similar neurodegeneration pattern as aging but the decline occurs much more quickly. After accounting for normal age-related effects, the researchers determined people with diabetes had an additional 13% decrease in working memory. Brain-processing speed declined an additional 6.7% among people with diabetes compared with their non-diabetic counterparts.

And the longer that diabetes persists, the more profound the consequences. People with long-term cases of diabetes experienced a 26% acceleration in brain aging.

The researchers don’t know exactly what’s driving the heightened brain aging among those with diabetes but they have a theory. The disease may affect energy availability for the brain in a way that causes major changes to its function and structure.

So, to help keep your brain from getting old before its time, keep a lid on your blood sugar.

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