Mental decline linked with type 2 diabetes
Older adults with type 2 diabetes appear to have a steeper mental decline as they age, according to Harvard researchers. One of the reasons for this is that diabetes damages blood vessels, and it can certainly damage the blood vessels that supply the brain.
These findings confirm previous studies and adds to the current body of knowledge about the ravages of this disease. Diabetes was known in ancient times and remains today a world-wide and increasing health problem. One of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, it is associated with long-term complications that affect almost every part of the body.
In adults, type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. It is associated with older age, obesity, physical inactivity, and a family history of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents, although still rare, is being diagnosed more frequently.
There is a very significant correlation with the rise of obesity in this country and the increased incidence of type 2 diabetes. Since the mid-seventies, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply for both adults and children in this country and this raises very serious concern about Americans’ future health.
via Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, June 2008
via Diabetes, Bay Area Medical Information
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