Diabetes May Speed Up Mental Decline During Middle Age

There's no doubt that diabetes can increase the risk of certain weight-related health issues, heart disease and numerous other health conditions. Yet could it also speed up mental decline? A recent study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that the mind appears to age about five years faster than usual in some patients dealing with the health condition. 

The study authors examined data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) that followed about 15,800 middle-aged adults in the United States. Next, they evaluated their cognitive function during three of five periodic visits through the study that began in 1987 and ended in 2013. During this time, researchers compared the amount of cognitive decline associated with aging to the amount observed in the study participants.

Findings revealed a 19 percent increase in mental decline among those with poorly controlled diabetes, and smaller declines for those with controlled diabetes and pre-diabetes.

However, researchers clarified that the study results do not imply that those with healthy blood sugars are not vulnerable to memory issues or thinking problems later in life.

"The lesson is that to have a healthy brain when you're 70, you need to eat right and exercise when you're 50," said lead study author Elizabeth Selvin, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a news release. "There is a substantial cognitive decline associated with diabetes, pre-diabetes and poor glucose control in people with diabetes. And we know how to prevent or delay the diabetes associated with this decline."

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