Poor Glucose Control Impacts on Cognition

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Now they want to add another complication to the list of diabetescomplications. Cognition decline is now the result of poor bloodglucose management. Cognition is the mentalact or process by which knowledge is acquired, including perception,intuition, and reasoning. I can understand this happening,but how do they classify other people with cognition decline. Arethey people with undiagnosed diabetes? I would be guessing, but I dobelieve some may have undiagnosed diabetes, but not a large number.
The study in Archives of Neurology saysthat, “poor glucose control in older,well-functioning adults with no dementia are linked to reducedcognitive function and higher cognitive decline.” The researchers conclude: "Thisstudy supports the hypothesis that older adults with DM have reducedcognitive function and that poor glycemic control may contribute tothis association. Future studies should determine if early diagnosisand treatment of DM lessen the risk of developing cognitiveimpairment and if maintaining optimal glucose control helps mitigatethe effect of DM on cognition."

Therefore, they are not saying type 2only, but all with diabetes mellitus. The researchers from theUniversity of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VAMedical Center assessed 3069 patients and administered two tests. The two tests were the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS)and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). These tests were done atthe beginning of the study and repeated at selected intervals overthe 10-year period of the study. The average age of the patients was74.2 years. Of the participants, 42% were black and 52% were female.
Of the participants, 717 had diabetesat the beginning of the study and 2352 has no diabetes. During thestudy, 159 participants developed diabetes. At the start of thestudy, those with diabetes had lower 3MS and DSST test scores thanthose without diabetes. At the 9-year mark, participants withoutdiabetes had a similar pattern of decline. Those with diabetes andthat developed diabetes, showed a marked decline in both the 3MS andDSST tests compared to those not having diabetes.
This points out how important goodblood glucose management is for our brain health and the fact thatpoor management can bring on not only many complications, butcognitive decline as well.