Minnesota [US], March 20 : People with type 1 diabetes have a higher risk of developing dementia, according to a study. Type 2 diabetes is also linked to an increased risk of dementia compared to those without diabetes. However, the findings show only an association and do not prove that diabetes causes dementia. Type 1 diabetes is relatively rare, accounting for about 5% of all diabetes cases.
"As advances in medical care have extended the lives of people with type 1 diabetes, it's becoming increasingly important to understand the relation of type 1 diabetes to the risk of dementia," said study author Jennifer Weuve, MPH, ScD, of Boston University. "We have known that type 2 diabetes is linked to an increased risk of dementia, but this new research suggests that, unfortunately, the association may be even stronger for those with type 1 diabetes."
The study involved 283,772 people with an average age of 64. Of those, 5,442 had type 1 diabetes, and 51,511 had type 2 diabetes. The participants were followed for an average of 2.4 years. During that time, 2,348 people developed dementia, including 144 of the people with type 1 diabetes, or 2.6 per cent; 942 of the people with type 2 diabetes, or 1.8 per cent; and 1,262 of the 226,819 people who did not have diabetes, or 0.6 per cent.
The study was published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
After accounting for factors such as age and education level, the researchers estimated that people with type 1 diabetes were nearly three times as likely to develop dementia as people without diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes were twice as likely to develop dementia as people without diabetes. Weuve added that in this study, an estimated 65 per cent of dementia cases among people with type 1 diabetes could be attributed to the condition itself.
"Type 1 diabetes is not common, so this condition accounts for a small fraction of all dementia cases. But for the growing number of people with type 1 diabetes who are over 65 years old, these findings underscore the urgency of understanding the ways in which type 1 diabetes influences dementia risk and how we can prevent or delay it," Weuve said.
A limitation of the study is that diabetes and dementia were identified using electronic health records and survey data, which may not capture every diagnosis.
A neurologist is a doctor who specialises in the diagnosis, care and treatment of brain, spinal cord and nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, stroke, concussion, epilepsy, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, headache and migraine.
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