Type 2 diabetes is a known risk factor for dementia, but it is unclear how diabetes and its earlier stage, prediabetes, affect brain aging in people without dementia. Now, comprehensive brain imaging studies show that both diabetes and prediabetes may be associated with accelerated brain aging.
The study involved more than 31,000 participants from UK Biobank aged between 40 and 70 who underwent MRI scans of their brains. The researchers used machine learning techniques to estimate the participants' brain age in relation to their chronological age.
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Early Warning Signs of Dementia
Prediabetes and diabetes were associated with brains that were 0.5 and 2.3 years older than chronological age, respectively. The brains of people with poorly controlled diabetes appeared to be more than four years older than their chronological age. The researchers also noticed that the difference between brain age and chronological age widened slightly over time in people with diabetes. These associations were weaker among people who refrained from smoking and excessive alcohol consumption and were physically active.
“An older looking brain compared to chronological age may indicate a deviation from the normal ageing process and be an early warning sign of dementia,” said Abigail Dove, a doctoral student at the Centre for Ageing Research in the Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Sociology at Karolinska Institutet and lead author of the study. “On the positive side, it appears that people with diabetes can influence their brain health through healthy living.”
Preventing cognitive impairment
Repeat MRI data was obtained for a small percentage of study participants, and follow-up MRI scans are currently being conducted so that researchers can continue to study the link between diabetes and brain aging over time.
“The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the population is high and increasing,” says Abigail Dove, “and we hope that our research will help prevent cognitive impairment and dementia in people with diabetes and prediabetes.”
reference:
Dove A, Wang J, Huang H, et al. “Diabetes, Prediabetes, and Brain Aging: The Role of Healthy Lifestyles.” Diabetes Care. 2024. doi:10.2337/dc24-0860
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