Diabetes Linked to Accelerated Brain Aging, Study Finds
According to a recent study based on MRI scans, diabetes can age the brain by up to four years. There was one bright spot, though: according to the Swedish researchers, adopting a healthier lifestyle could help stop that neurological aging.
Lead author of the study Abigail Dove issued a warning: “Having an older-appearing brain for one’s chronological age can indicate deviation from the normal aging process and may constitute an early warning sign for dementia.”
“On the plus side, it appears that individuals with diabetes may be able to affect their brain health through healthy living,” continued Dove, a neuroscience PhD student at the Stockholm-based Karolinska Institute.
The Study: MRI Scans and AI Reveal Brain Age Differences
Type 2 diabetes has long been known to be a risk factor for dementia, as Dove’s study pointed out. It remained unknown, meanwhile, how diabetes and prediabetes affected the mental health of those who were not suffering from dementia.
In an effort to address this, a recent study examined the MRI brain scans of more than 31,000 participants, all of whom were enrolled in the U.K. Biobank, a British database, and ranged in age from 40 to 70.
Dove and her associates assessed each person’s relative “brain age” using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Researchers discovered that individuals with medical records indicating they were prediabetic had an average brain age that was six months older than those without the illness.
Lifestyle Changes Could Mitigate Brain Aging in Diabetics
The average brain age of those with full-blown diabetes was found to be 2.3 years older than that of those without the blood sugar illness, and the average brain age of those with extremely poorly controlled diabetes was found to be four years older. But the study also discovered that individuals who had an active lifestyle and abstained from alcohol and tobacco had a significantly lower risk of having an excessively old brain.
Dove stated in a Karolinska news release that “type 2 diabetes is highly prevalent in the population and is continuing to rise.” “Our research aims to prevent dementia and cognitive impairment in individuals with diabetes and prediabetes.”
