Cognitive Declines Seen in Middle-Aged Diabetics

In that declines in memory, thinking speed, and mental flexibility sometimes are seen in middle age type-2 diabetics, Astrid Nooyens, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, and colleagues find that effective management and control of the condition can help to prevent some of the extent of these cognitive declines.  The team analyzed data on more than 2,600 men and women, ages 45 to 70 years, who were enrolled in The Doetinchem Cohort Study, assessing the subjects’ health records and mental acuity scores.  Over a five-year period, the researchers observed a three-time more pronounced decline in overall mental functioning in the subjects with type 2 diabetes, as compared to non-diabetics in the study., Additionally, the team found that those subjects who developed diabetes after beginning the study were at a two-fold more pronounced decline,  as compared to non-diabetics in the study. Further, subjects who had long-term diabetes were found to have the greatest declines in mental function.  The researchers conclude that: “Middle-aged persons with type 2 diabetes showed a greater decline in cognitive function than middle-aged persons without diabetes.”