- Both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are associated with an increased risk of brain-related health problems.
- Using brain imaging, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet confirm that both diabetes and prediabetes are associated with accelerated brain aging.
- Researchers have found that a healthy lifestyle, such as not smoking, can help counter the negative effects on the brain associated with diabetes.
Scientists estimate that about 540 million people they have all over the world diabeteswith about 98% of those diagnosed type 2 diabetes. And more
Past studies have linked both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes to an increased risk of certain brain-related health problems. For example, a study published in February 2021 linked prediabetes with an
“Diabetes is a well-established risk factor for dementia, but the role of diabetes – and its preclinical manifestation, prediabetes – in the early stages
Dove is the lead author of a new study recently published in the journal Diabetes care.
The study reports that while people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes may be at risk of accelerated brain aging, they make healthy lifestyle choices such as No smoking can help them improve brain health.
For this study, she studied Dove and her team MRI scans of the brain more than 31,000 people between the ages of 40 and 70 British Biobank. At baseline, about 43% of study participants had prediabetes and nearly 4% had diabetes.
All participants had up to two brain MRI scans during the 11 years of follow-up. The researchers calculated each participant’s brain age using a
After analysis, the researchers found that both prediabetes and diabetes were associated with brains that were 0.5 and 2.3 years older than a person’s chronological age.
“There are several potential biological pathways by which (pre)diabetes can affect brain health,” Dove explained.
“Hyperglycemiadefining pathophysiological feature of diabetes, can support
endothelial dysfunction oxidative stress, systemic inflammation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products. Together, these contribute to disruptionblood-brain barrier permeability — exposure of the brain to potentially toxic substances, leading to abnormal neuronal activity —demyelination and axonal loss leading to brain atrophy and neurotransmitter signaling disturbances and Ca 2+ signaling alterations leading to excitotoxicity and gene expression disturbances.
— Abigail Dove
“In addition, the micro- and macrovascular complications of diabetes may contribute to the brain atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular pathologies that may lower the threshold for neurodegeneration,” she continued. “Finally, the insulin resistance that characterizes diabetes has been linked to processes related to Alzheimer’s disease, including
During the study, the researchers also found that the difference between brain age and chronological age increased slightly over time in people with diabetes.
However, these associations were reduced in participants who participated in high physical activity, did not smoke, and abstained from heavy alcohol consumption.
“In this analysis, we wondered whether the negative impact of diabetes on brain health could be partially mitigated by a healthy lifestyle,” Dove said. “We divided the participants into six groups according to glycemic status – normoglycemia, prediabetes, diabetes – and lifestyle – optimal (i.e. no smoking, no heavy alcohol, high physical activity) vs.
“The difference between brain and chronological age was significantly smaller in the diabetes + optimal lifestyle group compared to the diabetes + suboptimal lifestyle group, suggesting that lifestyle can compensate for the detrimental effect of diabetes. Importantly, all of the lifestyle factors we considered—smoking, drinking, physical activity—are things that can be easily modified, so these findings provide useful strategies that people with diabetes might consider to improve their brain health.
— Abigail Dove
After reviewing this study Scott Kaiser, MDboard-certified geriatrician and director of geriatric cognitive health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA, said MNT this is an important, well-conducted study that confirms much of what we know about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and effective diabetes management for brain health and reducing the risk of dementia.
“There’s really little doubt that diabetes, among its many potential negative effects, increases the risk and severity of dementia – that’s pretty well established. So it’s important to think about how we can mitigate this risk – how a healthy brain lifestyle, including physical activity, avoiding smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol, … diet … and a host of other factors are really so important to maintaining brain health. and reducing the risk of dementia.”
—Scott Kaiser, MD
“We have an aging population (and) with that comes an increasing risk of dementia
Kaiser pointed out that this study showed associations and that causality is not yet 100% proven.
“I think it’s important to have more prospective studies that show direct causal impact and pathways, but more importantly, interventions that can use this information (could) have a huge impact,” he continued. “This study provides really great targets for lifestyle interventions to promote brain health, and again, that’s really important when you think about it not just (at) the individual level, but at the population level.”