Diabetes and Dementia
A Double Dilemma ?
By Dr David Strain
Commonly , the progressive decline in the brain ’ s ability to process new information leads to dementia in older people with diabetes .
Today the improved diabetes care has allowed people living with diabetes to live for much longer than before . However , as people reach old age with diabetes , new groups of complications appear a group of symptoms collectively known as “ frailty ”, characterised by muscle weakness , weight loss , increased risk of falls and fractures , low mood ( or depression ) and dementia .
Commonly , the progressive decline in the brain ’ s ability to process new information leads to dementia in older people with diabetes . As a result , the risk of developing Alzheimer ’ s disease or vascular dementia ( blood supply issue in the brain ) is two-fold in older people with diabetes compared to their peers . Having diabetes already increases the risk of developing Alzheimer ’ s disease by over 50 %, and it doubles the risk of vascular disease . These diseases are caused by damage to the brain , similar to a stroke , leading to premature , earlier ageing .
Different types of dementia
Alzheimer ’ s disease is associated with brain inflammation and repeated episodes of high or low sugar values , especially swinging between high and low . Hypoglycemia significantly impacts the quality of life , but a single severe hypo in a year significantly increases the risk of dementia in an older adult , while having three almost doubles the risk .
While the exact mechanism linking sugar swings and dementia remains unclear , we know that the damage leading to Alzheimer ’ s disease starts about 10 years before the first symptoms appear : your sugar value today may determine what happens to your brain in 10 years time !
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Alzheimer ’ s dementia is the most common form of dementia worldwide : caused by different types of proteins that prevent communication between nerves or kill off brain cells ( being toxic ). Building up slowly over time , causing a slow deterioration in short-term memory while saving the memories from the past . People living with this condition tend to be unaware of their problems – it is simply everyone else that is wrong .