if it strikes when young it increases the risk of dementia in old age – time.news

2023-05-31 11:49:22

Of Laura Cuppini

The condition occurs when blood sugar levels are high, but not high enough to qualify for the diagnosis of full-blown diabetes

Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are high, but not high enough to lead to a diagnosis of full-blown diabetes. characterized by impaired fasting blood sugar, with values between 100 and 125 mg/dl, and glucose intolerance detectable by blood glucose values ​​between 140 and 199 mg/dl two hours after a load curve examination. Recent surveys estimate that in Italy there are about 4.5 million prediabetics: in these people the cardiovascular risk is higher than in the population with normal glycemia (18% against 11%, over 5 years). There are over 4 million full-blown diabetics in our country.

Prediabetes can be cured

Prediabetes a condition at risk for the development of type 2 diabetes: In 11% of the untreated, the disease develops within three years and in 25% within five years. The very topical theme of prediabetes, also in the light of million citizens in Italy who suffer from diabetes without knowing it – has explained Angelo Avogaro, president of the Italian Society of Diabetology (Sid), on the occasion of the Panorama diabetes forum – Predict to prevent -. It is necessary to identify prediabetes in citizens at risk: sedentary people, those with a strong family history of diabetes, overweight patients and those who have to follow cortisone-based therapies for a long time. But the state of prediabetes can be cured. We have scientific evidence that you can regress to normoglycemia with a lifestyle change, in terms of increased exercise and balanced diet, accompanied by weight loss if you are overweight,” he clarified Raffaella Buzzetti, president-elect of the Sid — . The diabetologist is the specialist who more than any other can carry out preventive medicine, suggesting the most appropriate therapeutic pathway for these patients.

The risk of dementia

One more reason to avoid (or treat) prediabetes emerges from a new US study, published in the magazine Diabetes
according to which people who develop it when young have a higher risk of dementia in later life. Among the participants (aged between 45 and 64), those who developed type 2 diabetes before age 60 had a three times higher risk of dementia than the rest. If prediabetes progresses to diabetes between the ages of 60 and 69, the risk decreases, but only by a few points. We all have transient spikes in blood glucose — he explained to Cnn Andrew Freeman, cardiologist at National Jewish Health in Denver —. But if you look at the glucose readings over the years, you can see cumulative damage: The sooner you are exposed, the greater the level of damage. The study found that if diabetes isn’t diagnosed before age 70, the risk of dementia drops to 23 percent. And if a person develops diabetes between 80 and 90 years old the risk of cognitive deficits equals that of those without diabetes.

A very common problem

We have seen a strong association between prediabetes and dementia, but it was present only among people who later developed diabetes – said Elizabeth Selvin, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and one of the authors of the study -. This suggests that avoiding the progression from prediabetes to diabetes could help prevent dementia in later life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three American adults has prediabetes and 80% do not know it. Almost a third are between the ages of 18 and 44. These people are at a high risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular problems and dementia. The problem also affects the teenagers and the very young: in the United States one out of 5 children (between 12 and 18 years old) and one out of 4 young adults (between 19 and 34 years old) suffer from prediabetes.

A silent predator

Although the exact connection between diabetes and dementia is not known (proven by several studies), according to the American Alzheimer’s Association diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and strokes, which damage the heart and blood vessels. Damaged vessels in the brain can contribute to cognitive decline. Also, elevated blood sugar causes inflammations which could damage brain cells. Prediabetes is a silent predator, which develops and progresses without obvious symptoms. However, there are gods risk factors: being overweight, over the age of 44, exercising less than three times a week, a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes, a history of gestation or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 4 kg . All people should have their blood sugar measured periodically. The examination is mandatory if you belong to a category at risk (family members of diabetics, suffering from obesity or hypertension) or in the presence of symptoms (excessive urine production, intense thirst, unjustified weight loss).

May 31, 2023 (change May 31, 2023 | 11:49 am)

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