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Earlier studies had also hinted at the possibility of a link between retinal features and cognitive decline.
There are many health complications that are associated with type 1 diabetes. People suffering from this condition are at a higher risk of heart disease, eye problems and also neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. To prevent these complications, patients are advised to follow a healthy diet and lifestyle, exercise regularly and go for routine health checkups. But many patients are guilty of avoiding eye checkups, which should not be the case.
Routine eye imaging can identify changes in the retina that may be associated with cognitive disorders in older people with Type-1 diabetes, researchers from Joslin Diabetes Center in the US say. According to them, people with diabetes are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders than are people without diabetes. These results may open up a relatively easy method for early detection of cognitive decline in this population, providing better ways to understand, diagnose and ultimately treat the decline, the researchers said.
Researchers say, "Since we knew there were cellular changes in the retina that might reflect changes in the brain, we were interested to see whether imaging techniques that visualize those changes in the retina might be reflective of changes in cognitive functions. For the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the researchers involved 129 participants. The team drew on eye scans routinely gathered from patients as a part of normal vision care. One set of scans was based on optical coherence tomography (OCT, a technique employing light to provide cross-sections for the retina). A second set of scans employed OCT angiography (OCTA, an extension of OCT technology that examines blood vessels in the retina). Both types of scans are non-invasive and widely available in eye clinics in the US and can be performed within minutes.
The researchers found very strong associations between performance on memory tasks and structural changes in deep blood vessel networks in the retina. Memory is the main cognitive task that is affected in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, so the finding was exciting. Earlier studies had also hinted at the possibility of a link between retinal features and cognitive decline. A study in Nature also says that structural changes of the retina affect subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
There are often some underlying health issues affecting an older person's cognitive abilities. Those need to be detected and treated at the earliest. Cognitive decline can be debilitating, and usual symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, anxiety and confusion, apathy, personality changes and difficulty in doing everyday tasks. Hence, it is always better to do everything to prevent the conditions that can accelerate this.
(With inputs from IANS)