2023-05-29 14:00:40
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — People who develop pre-diabetes when they are younger are more likely to develop dementia later in life, according to a new study.
Pre-diabetes is when blood sugar levels are higher than optimal, but not high enough for a medical diagnosis of diabetes.
Unfortunately, millions of Americans under the age of 60 have prediabetes, and many of them don’t realize it.
“Pre-diabetes is associated with a risk of dementia, but the development of diabetes explains this risk,” said Elisabeth Sylvin, Professor of Epidemiology, and PhD student Jiaqi Hu, the study’s authors.
They both work at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Diabetologia, analyzed data from a study called Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, which included individuals between the ages of 45 and 64 from four US counties.
The study found that participants who developed type 2 diabetes before the age of 60 had a three-fold increased risk of developing dementia later in life, compared to those who did not develop type 2 diabetes before the age of 60.
And if pre-diabetes develops into type 2 diabetes between the ages of 60 to 69, the risk drops, but only by a few points.
Dr. Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer’s disease researcher who specializes in preventive neurology at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, said the results were not surprising.
“This is what I’ve been screaming at the top of my lungs for over a decade,” Isaacson said in an email.
He added: “If this study prompts people to take action when presenting a diagnosis to someone who is near-diabetes or has a pre-diabetic condition, it will definitely improve brain health outcomes.”
Pre-diabetic condition.. what is it?
More than 1 in 3 American adults has prediabetes, and 80 percent of them don’t realize it, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Control (CDC).
About a third of these individuals, between the ages of 18 and 44, are considered too young to have a disorder that puts them at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, major cardiovascular problems, and vascular dementia as they age.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 5.8 million people in the United States suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.
A meta-analysis from 2013 found that type 2 diabetes was associated with a 60% increased risk of dementia of all causes.
In addition, people with dementia and type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of premature death.
While the exact link between diabetes and dementia is not known, there are several potential theories, according to research.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, which are harmful to the heart and blood vessels. Damaged blood vessels in the brain may contribute to cognitive decline.”
High blood sugar also leads to inflammation, which can lead to brain cell damage, according to the association.
Risk factors for pre-diabetes
Pre-diabetes is known as a “silent predator,” as it develops and progresses without any obvious symptoms.
But there are risk factors associated with it.
A person is at risk of developing pre-diabetes if he is overweight, over the age of 44, if he exercises less than 3 times a week, or if one of his parents or siblings has type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
For women, these factors include having diabetes during pregnancy, or having a baby weighing more than 4 kilograms.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all adults ages 35 to 70 who are considered overweight (or obese) be screened for prediabetes, or diabetes.
If blood sugar levels are a concern, reducing weight, exercising, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding processed and processed foods can reduce the risk.
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