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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : October 8, 2014 10:42 AM IST
Diabetes and high blood pressure in middle age increase risks of brain damage which leads to thinking problems and dementia in later life, a study claims. 'Potentially, if we can prevent or control diabetes and high blood pressure in middle age, we can prevent or delay the brain damage that occurs decades later and leads to memory and thinking problems and dementia,' explained Rosebud O Roberts of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The researchers defined middle age as age 40 to 64 and old age as age 65 and older. For the study, the thinking and memory skills of 1,437 people with an average age of 80 were evaluated. The participants had either no thinking or memory problems or mild memory and thinking problems called mild cognitive impairment. They then had brain scans to look for markers of brain damage that can be a precursor to dementia. (Read: Cheap blood pressure pill could cure dementia!)
Participants' medical records were then reviewed to determine whether they had been diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure in middle age or later. The researchers found that compared to people who did not have diabetes, people who developed diabetes in middle age had total brain volume an average of 2.9 percent smaller. In the hippocampus area of the brain, which is involved in memory forming, the volume was four percent smaller, the research showed. (Read: Beware a diet rich in carbohydrates could give you dementia!)
They were also twice as likely to have thinking and memory problems, said the study. Compared to people who did not have high blood pressure, people who developed high blood pressure in middle age were twice as likely to have areas of brain damage. 'People who developed diabetes even in old age were also more likely to have areas of brain damage. Conversely, there were not many effects from high blood pressure that developed in old age,' said Roberts. (Read: Dementia can be presented by exercising in your teens)
The study appeared in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
What is dementia?
Dementia refers to a group of degenerative mental diseases in which there is a serious loss of cognitive function which goes beyond normal ageing. Symptoms include confusion, mood swings, long-term memory loss and a gradual loss of bodily functions. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. It is caused due to plaque deposition in the brain's neurons which affects its functioning and causes it to die. Why this happens is still not clear though research suggests it's linked to genetic susceptibility and mental age. (Read: Dementia causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention)
With inputs from IANS
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