Are Diabetics more prone to dementia

[hariyaksh]

I read an article online that diabetic patients are more prone to dementia than others. Now the thing is my grandmother already has dementia and my father has diabetes. Reading this article has scared the hell out of me since I'm already losing my grandmother and now this news.
If there is some person with medical background or medical authority, then kindly confirm as to whether this news is true or false. the article is here: http://www.freepressjournal.in/diabetics-more-prone-to-suffer-from-dementia/

Please someone provide me with relevant information regarding this since I am right now in full panic mode.

 

[Grannie G]

Hello hariyaksh

There is no one on TP who will be able to post as a professional medic because the Forum if for peer support only. If you want true medical advice your GP is the best first port of call.

My husband had type two diabetes and I know there are others on the forum who are diabetic too. Saying this, there will be millions of diabetics who do not develop dementia although I have no idea of the figures.

All any of us can do is adopt the healthiest lifestyle possible and seek medical advice if we have concerns.

 

[Mal2]

When my husband was diagnosed 12 years ago, we were told it could have been helped on by the diabetes. With diabetes it can affect the blood flow to the extremities, hands, feet brain. No point worrying what may be though, you will only be beating yourself up, take each day as it comes.

My husband has only deteriorated over the last 6 months, but, still happy in himself. So we have lived a 'normal' life for 11 1/2 years. I don't want to know what may happen next week, next month or next year, I just enjoy what we have today.

I hope everything works out well for you. Hugs

 

[Soobee]

Anyone with diabetes is more at risk of a range of health problems including heart attacks and strokes. Those who have strokes are more likely to get a form of dementia called vascular dementia.

It doesn't mean that everyone who has diabetes will go on to get dementia. My parents lived for many years with diabetes without any problems at all (one got dementia, the other had cancer).

My sister has diabetes too and I am likely to develop it because of my weight and lifestyle. I don't see the point in worrying about it and I am basically enjoying life whilst I can. There will be a point in the future some time when I will have to cut back on a lot of food and drink that I enjoy now and I will face it then. It's probably a little bit fatalistic as if I completely changed everything about my life now then I might not get diabetes, but the odds are utterly stacked against me on that.

If you live your life worrying about what may or may not happen to you or your loved ones at some time in the future then you'll be missing out on enjoying what you have got today. It took me a while to learn this (as a born worrier) but I am getting there.

 

[Margarita]

This is a good read from AZ Society Fack sheets

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=3020

What do we already know?

Research has shown that diabetes can increase the risk of developing both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. This is thought to be because the mechanisms behind diabetes development can damage small blood vessels in the brain, which is likely to contribute towards vascular dementia. It is also thought that diabetes-related blood vessel damage could lead to a reduced blood flow to the brain, which may be a factor in Alzheimer's disease development.
Professor Wharton believes that diabetes mechanisms may also directly cause damage to brain cells. He intends to use this project to further investigate the molecular reasons behind the apparent link between diabetes and dementia. The project will also determine whether a common condition called metabolic syndrome can influence dementia development. Metabolic syndrome encompasses a group of symptoms including obesity, high blood pressure, impaired blood glucose processing and impaired metabolic processes in cells.

What does this project involve?

The project will look at several aspects of diabetes and metabolic syndrome and how these could link to dementia development. This includes investigating the potentially harmful effect of raised glucose levels in the body, a hallmark of diabetes. The project will also investigate the levels of other nutrients known to be altered in diabetes and determine whether this has an effect on dementia risk.

The researchers will also focus on the effect of the hormone insulin, which does not function correctly in diabetes. There is a growing amount of research that indicates that brain cells cannot use insulin properly in Alzheimer's disease and this project will add to that understanding. The project will also focus on how diabetes mechanisms affect blood vessels in the brain, which is thought to be an important factor in dementia development, particularly in vascular dementia.

The research will make use of the Cognitive Function and Aging Study (CFAS) resource. This resource includes samples of brain tissue that have been donated to the study by members of the general population who were aged over 65. The researchers will use this tissue to measure several hallmarks of diabetes and determine if these are related to signs of Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia. This includes investigating whether diabetes or metabolic syndrome can affect how genes work in certain cell types and whether these changes are linked to dementia development.


How will this benefit people with dementia?

Whilst diabetes is currently understood to be an important risk factor for dementia, not much is known about why this is the case. Understanding the relationship between diabetes and dementia will be important to tease apart the risks and causes that lie behind these two conditions. The study may help to define potential new mechanisms in disease development, including the role of diabetes in relation to brain cell damage.
The study has the potential to give insights into dementia prevention and to identify those at a higher risk of dementia due to diabetes-related mechanisms. This extra understanding will allow those affected to access the information that they need to manage their condition and reduce dementia risk. /QUOTE]



My Mother had VD/AZ my mother was a diabetic .

 

[Margarita]

If you live your life worrying about what may or may not happen to you or your loved ones at some time in the future then you'll be missing out on enjoying what you have got today. It took me a while to learn this (as a born worrier) but I am getting there.

I totally agree with you on that .

But I do feel more awareness needs to happen in this area of diabetics & dementia.
Am please to read that the AZ is doing Research into it

How I perceive it as it gives people choices
Knowledge is power .

2 of my mother aunties had to have there legs cut off below the knee , because of gangrene diabetic foot back in the 60s 70s.
both uneducated with no knowledge in how to look after there diabetes

My mother sister my auntie was a nurse ending up in a diabetic coma died .

Looking back in the time I spent with them all. I am sure they all had undiagnosed dementia.
Only because of my personal experience living with my mother with a diagnosed VD/AZ

I know that with my Adult children generation I will educate them about risk factors of diabetics & dementia.

Leaving with a positive note like syivia says
"All any of us can do is adopt the healthiest lifestyle possible and seek medical advice if we have concerns."

 

[Saffie]

As already stated, we are not medical people here so can only speak from out own experience.
For what is't worth I think a lot must depend upon the timing of the onset of the Diabetes.
It takes time for the effects of both the disease and the medication to affect other areas of the body.
My husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in his mid thirties, he was not overweight. After years of tablet medication, including metformin, he was put on insulin injections when he was in his late 50s.
He developed PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease) in his early 50s which was the basic casue of his valcular dementia due poor bloodflow to the brain.
His is mother also developed type 2 diabetes although she was 60 at the time, was on insulin injections and died aged 87, with no sign of dementia.

So yes, it can influence the development of dementia but certainly doesn't not mean this is inevitable by any means.