Diabetes and Dementia
Reported April 15, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Diabetics who suffer severe hypoglycemia may be at greater risk of developing dementia.
Many diabetics suffer from hypoglycemia when the blood glucose levels drop too low, causing dizziness, disorientation, fainting or seizures. While most hypoglycemia is mild and easily managed by the patient, more severe events can require hospitalization or an emergency room visit. Researchers followed more than 16,000 patients with type 2 diabetes for 22 years to monitor follow-up for hypoglycemia events and later diagnosis of dementia.
“Specifically, we observed a 2.39 percent increase in absolute risk of dementia per year of follow-up for patients with history of hypoglycemia, compared with patients without a history,” the study authors wrote.” Although this one-year absolute risk difference is modest, the cumulative effects would be sizeable.”
When compared with patients with no hypoglycemia, patients with single or multiple episodes increased their dementia risk with each incidence. Those with one hypoglycemic episode had a 26 percent increased risk, while those who suffered two episodes showed an 80 percent increased risk. Three or more hypoglycemic episodes nearly doubles a patients risk for dementia, according to the study.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009;301[15]:1565-1572