In just two years, people with type 2 diabetes experience negative changes in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain, which is associated with lower scores in cognitive skills tests and their ability to perform daily activities, according toThe conclusions of a new study published this Wednesday in the digital edition of 'Neurology'.
"The regulation of normal blood flow allows the brain to redistribute the blood to the areas of the brain that have increased the activity in the performance of certain tasks -explains the author of the Vera Novak study, of Harvard's Medicine School in Boston in Boston, United States-
Inflammation levels, keys in diabetes
40 people participated in the study with an average age of 66, of which 19 had type 2 and 21 diabetes had no diabetes.Diabetic people had been treated for the disease for an average of 13 years.The participants were evaluated at the beginning of the study and again two years later.The tests were on cognition and memory, magnetic resonance images of the brain to study brain volume and blood flow and blood analysis to measure blood sugar control and inflammation.
After two years, people with diabetes recorded decreases in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain and obtained 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 registered greater decreases in the performance of daily activities such as bathing and cooking.
The highest levels of inflammation are also linked to a greater decrease in the regulation of blood flow, even if the participants carried a good control of diabetes and blood pressure, according to Novak.In learning and memory tests, the qualifications of people with diabetes were reduced by 12 percent, from 46 points to 41 points in the two years of study, while those of people without diabetes remained the same, in 55 points.The regulation of blood flow in the brain decreased by 65 percent in people with diabetes.