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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : May 7, 2015 11:03 AM IST
Diabetes accounts for a huge share of lifestyle diseases all across the world and with the change lifestyle and unhealthy habits, the condition only worsens. While much is talked about type 2 diabetes, not much is known about type 1 diabetes or diabetes insipidus. It is also called as juvenile diabetes as it mostly affects children. In this condition the body's immune system produces antibodies against its insulin producing beta cells which leads to diabetes.
Various health problems like weak appearance, increased appetite,wound cuts that do not heal quickly are common in these patients. Also, the sugar levels keep on fluctuating, patients suffering from type 1 diabetes have to be extra careful.Worsening the situation, a new study claims that patients with this condition are more likely to suffer from age related degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's as diabetes accelerates brain ageing. The study conducted at University of Pittsburgh Schools indicate that clinicians should consider screening middle-aged patients with type 1 diabetes for cognitive difficulties. (Read: Artificial pancreas better than insulin pumps to treat type 1 diabetes?)
Senior author Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH, associate professor in Pitt Public Health's Department of Epidemiology, said that severity of cognitive complications and cerebral small vessel disease which can starve the brain of oxygen is much more intense than they expected, but it can be measured in a clinical setting. Rosano continued that further study in younger patients is needed, but it stands to reason that early detection and intervention such as controlling cardiometabolic factors and tighter glycemic control, which help prevent microvascular complications also could reduce or delay these cognitive complications. (Read: Can Type 1 diabetes be reversed? (Diseases query of the day))
The people with type 1 diabetes were all participants in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. The MRIs showed that 33% of the people with type 1 diabetes had moderate to severe levels of white matter hyperintensities (markers of damage to the brain's white matter, present in normal ageing and neurological disorders) compared with 7% of their non-diabetic counterparts. On three cognitive tests that measure abilities such as information-processing speed, manual dexterity and verbal intelligence, the people with type 1 diabetes averaged lower scores than those without the condition. Among only the participants with type 1 diabetes, those with greater volumes of white matter hyperintensities averaged lower cognitive scores than those with smaller volumes, though the difference was less pronounced. (Read: Can juvenile diabetes be prevented?)
Lead author Karen A Nunley, Ph D , postdoctoral fellow in Pitt Public Health's neuroepidemiology program said that people with type 1 diabetes were living longer than ever before, and the incidence of type 1 diabetes was increasing annually. The research will be published in the May 19 issue of the journal Neurology. (Read: Researcher prevents Type I diabetes in lab)
Source: ANI
Photo source: Getty Images
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