A US study has shown that people with type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop dementia than the general population, highlighting the importance of following up on brain health as we age.
Researchers from Boston University highlighted a potential way to thwart the disease in adults with diabetes. The findings were published on Monday at the Neurology Journal.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the insulin making cells of the pancreas.
It is often diagnosed in children and adolescents, characterized by the pancreas producing little to no insulin, and often requires lifelong management, including daily insulin injections (or pumps) and frequent blood sugar monitoring to avoid dangerous complications.
The study was conducted on about 284,000 people, with an average age of 64, including 5,442 suffering from type 1 diabetes, and about 51,000 with type 2 diabetes.
Over an average of 2.4 years follow-up, the researchers examined cases of dementia, a brain disorder that slowly destroys a person's memory and thinking skills.
They found that 2,348 people developed dementia, including 144 with type 1 diabetes (2.6%) and 942 with type 2 diabetes (1.8%), while only 1,262 cases were recorded among non-diabetics (0.6%).
Taking into account factors such as age and education, researchers found that individuals with type 1 diabetes face a significantly elevated risk of developing dementia, with estimates suggesting they are up to three times more likely to develop the condition compared to those without diabetes, while individuals with type 2 diabetes were nearly twice as likely to develop dementia.
The researchers noted that previous studies have shown a link between type 2 diabetes and an increased risk of dementia, but the new findings suggest that this link may be stronger in people with type 1 diabetes.
