Diabetes Puts People at Risk for Dementia, Study Finds
People with diabetes may be at an increased risk of developing dementia, a new study finds.
Scientists have suspected the link between the two diseases for several years, but several experts say this latest study highlights how treating preventable diseases like diabetes and obesity may be useful in preventing the onset of dementia.
“Our findings emphasize the need to consider diabetes as a potential risk factor for dementia,” said study author Dr. Yutaka Kiyohara, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. “Diabetes is a common disorder, and the number of people with it has been growing in recent years all over the world. Controlling diabetes is now more important than ever.”
Researchers began studying residents of the town of Hisayama, Japan, in 1961, monitoring the numbers of people who got cardiovascular diseases. In 1985, they began measuring the numbers of people who developed dementia. The researchers followed more than 1,000 people for an average of 11 years.
They found that 27 percent of the people with diabetes developed dementia, compared with 21 percent of people without diabetes.