Study: Link Between Diabetes And Dementia

CBS Evening News: Letting Blood Sugar Get Too Low May Damage The Brain

(CBS)  A study was released Tuesday that has important information for older diabetics, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. More than 23.5 million Americans have diabetes, and half of them are over 60. Researchers have discovered a link between that disease and dementia.

There's a new danger for diabetics: letting blood sugar get too low may damage the brain.

"In older patients with Type 2 diabetes, those with a history of hypoglycemic events were at greater risk of dementia when they were in old age," said Dr. Rachel Whitmer, the study's lead author.

The study, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the increased risk of dementia looked at over 16,000 elderly Type 2 diabetics. Those never hospitalized with low blood sugar had a 10 percent chance of dementia. That risk increased by 45 percent after one hospitalization, 115 percent after two, and 160 percent after three or more.

"When the sugar levels drop, there is impairment of brain function, particularly memory and attention. If it drops long enough and low enough, it can cause long term damage," said Dr. Gayatri Devi. "Unfortunately for us, the part of the brain that's most susceptible to low blood sugars is also the seat of memory, the hippocampus."

Blood sugar crashes either when patients eat too little or take too much medication, such as insulin. Fifty-eight year old California school superintendent Jim Negri knows what that feels like.

"Lightheaded. Some dizziness. Sometimes a clammy feeling," Negri described.

Even diabetics without hypoglycemia are more likely to have memory problems. So Negri is doing everything he can to keep his blood sugar properly balanced through diet, exercise and medication.

"Anything that's bad for the heart, which includes obesity, diabetes, hypertension - all of those will also be bad for the brain," Devi said.

The message from the study is that diabetics should really control their blood sugar, LaPook said. It shouldn't be too high - or too low.

[shockolit]

Fred, I never said to poke on the side of the finger into the bone. But illustrations time after time show the poking in the center of the pad of the finger. Also, my elderly mom was in the hospital recently, and after about two and a half weeks, she mentioned how very sore her finger was. Though she is far from overweight, and does not have diabetes, it was standard procedure to check blood sugar for all patients daily. I don't know how many times diabetic patients were checked. It takes a lot of pain and discomfort for her to say anything, so I knew the finger was really hurting. Every day they came in and poked her in that same finger in the middle of the sensitive area. She sews so much that her fingers are not even as tender as some. I have a fine boned grandson who was diagnosted with juvenile diabetes at five years old. Of course we don't poke so far onto the side of his little fingers that we get bone. On the other hand, my husband is able to go quite far to the side of his finger for testing. I never said to not use common sense.


Inachu, that is fascinating and goes along with the theory popular in Japan that categorizes personality according to blood types! I am also curious as to how many AB types are left handed.


Back to my diabetic curmudgeonly husband, I certainly can't say high blood sugar makes him sweet natured. Maybe their brains ferment from the extra sugar.

[inachu1]

Of course there is a link!
Funny how many doctors never research correctly and never hunts down that one docotor who had a patient who had split personailty disorder and when various personalities come out the doctor checked the blood and sometimes the blood type would change and one personality had diabetes while other personalitiy types did not have diabetes and this was all going on inside one persons head!

Amazing eh?

[Ichabod09]

correction between obesity and dementia.

[Ichabod09]

The majority of Americans are obese, which leads to diabetes, which leads to dimentia.

So, many are simply eating themselves into a home.......
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 7:17 PM : Apr 14, 2009

So you're suggesting that maybe researchers do a study to see if there is a direct relationship between type 2 diabetes and obesity?.....not bad kid, ya did good!

Where do these theories come from? I suspect is is the same crowd that gives us our scientific research to sell more prescription drugs. Posted by Baiuleyccc

[mikesarcbs]

Perhaps it will stretch their mental abilities beyond their capacity to note that, perhaps, maybe,it is equally likely that the drugs given to lower the sugar, or to use their Pzazz words: "the drug that CONTROLS sugar" causes the problem.
Remember, I assume no responsibility, this is not a medical advise.
Good Luck. If you understand, that is your problem, now.
MikeSarCBS

[sloppymonkey]

I understand the difference between hyper and hypoglycemia. I'm not demented. This story is about the latter but the symptoms are listed as diabetic symptoms. There is no distinction in symptoms.

[sloppymonkey]

I understand the difference between hyper and hypoglycemia. I'm not demented. This story is about the latter but the symptoms are listed as diabetic symptoms. There is no distinction in symptoms.

[sloppymonkey]

Dehydration may be the symptom that is being missed. They call it excessive thirst but it was very painful leg cramps that tipped me off to my hyperglycemia, glucose level,(550). Leg cramps are never listed as a diabetic symptom. However if you get leg cramps in the middle of the night combined with any of these other symptoms do not wait. Check your glucose levels immediately. The other symptoms, frequent urination and weight loss will make these cramps unbearable. Do not think bananas will cure them. Check yourself. Any other diabetics suffering from hyperglycemia want to mention leg cramps as a symptom? Excessive thirst is a sign of dehydration and so are cramps.

[formrusmcsgt]

The majority of Americans are obese, which leads to diabetes, which leads to dimentia.

So, many are simply eating themselves into a home.......

[ubrew12]

Look! I've had Type 2 diabetes for MANY years and I don't, for a second, see ANY link to dementia. I was asking Willard the other day, 'do you think I've got dementia?', and he said very little, cuz Willard's a rabbit, but Stimpie, my cat, spoke right up, 'Dude, you're freakin' me out 24-7!', and I said 'Stimpie', do you want to end up like Harpoon (my cockatiel)? Yeah, he ain't sayin' much now, stuffed on the mantle' ...

[shockolit]

Why do most all illustrations of blood sugar meters in use show the pad of the fingertip as the location of the poke? Real diabetics know to use the side of the finger. Even techs in the hospital do it wrong. (Some of them don't even know the right way to take a temp.) Place your hand flat on the tabletop, palm down. Any part of your fingers touching the table, you do not use for testing.