Years dragging diabetes and high sugar levels.They are two circumstances that, added, manage to reduce the cognitive abilities of the patient.This is revealed by a study that has just seen the light in the digital edition of Neurology, the medical magazine of the American Academy of Neurology.
"The regulation of normal blood flow allows the blood to redistribute the areas of the brain that have increased the activity in the performance of certain tasks," says the main author of this work, Vera Novak, of Harvard's Faculty of Medicine (Boston,USA)."People with type 2 diabetes [the one acquired in adulthood] have problems of blood flow regulation."The mechanism is easy to explain."The inflammation that is produced by the alteration of blood sugar levels causes the brain vessels notNeurologist at the University Hospital October 12, Madrid.
Although the effect of diabetes on the brain was already known, "this is the first time that it is quantified with concrete measurements (volume and brain flow) through magnetic resonance," says the Spanish expert when commenting on this study.
Precisely with the objective of examining in a concrete way the association between type 2 diabetes and the decrease of neuronal capacities, the US team of researchers selected 40 people whose average age was 66 years.Of these, 19 had type 2 diabetes and the rest were healthy.Valuing the medical records of the participants of the first group, detail the authors of this work, "took about 13 years."100% of the members underwent to memory and intelligence test at the beginning and two years.They also submitted to two specific magnetic resonances, in order to evaluate brain volume and blood flow.In turn, blood were extracted to measure sugar levels.
After two years, in the brain images of patients with high sugar levels, reductions were observed in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain.They also had lower scores in several tests of memory and thought skills.People with the least capacity to regulate blood flow at the beginning of the study had even greater declines on a scale that measures the skills to perform daily tasks such as bathing or cooking.
In the learning and memory test, the diabetics scores were reduced by 12%, from 46 to 41 points to the two years of study.They were between 46 and 41 points to the two years of study.For its part, the population without diabetes remained at the 55 points on average.The regulation of blood flow in the brain was reduced by 65% in people with diabetes.
"The detection and monitoring of the regulation of early blood flow can be an important predictor of accelerated changes in cognitive skills and even in decision -making capacity," says Novak.
According to the Spanish neurologist, Hernández Gallego, when commenting on this study, we must find that "they are long -lasting diabetics and that they are not well controlled, because despite the treatment, they have high sugar levels."
The best, adds this doctor, is "to maintain adherence to treatment and follow the recommendations to have blood sugar levels controlled."Although it is a silent, asymptomatic disease, "if it is not taken care of, it can cause serious consequences, such as diabetic foot syndrome (you can end the aputation of the leg), deiabetic retinopathy, heart disease, diabetic nephropathy" (lossofrenal function) and, given the latest information, can also reduce neuronal capacity.
As said neurologist at the 12 de Octubre Hospital exposes, "sometimes, when by certain symptoms (headaches, etc.) a diabetic resonance is made, small brain infarcts are seen. Not yet having symptoms because the volumeTotal lost fabrics is small, but the sum of these losses would produce their deterioration and warn of possible problems of neurological decline. "
For their part, the authors of this study recognize that more works are necessary that involve a higher population of participants and for a longer period of time, in order to "better understand synchronization between the regulation of cerebral flow and changesin thought and memory skills. "