The Disease Can Put You At Risk For Dementia, Alzheimer’s, And Other Conditions. Here’s How To Lower Your Risk.
Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects more than 37 million Americans. If not properly treated, it can lead to serious health conditions, including limb amputations and problems with your vision, heart, and kidneys.
Carly Burton, Apria’s Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, says, “Diabetes can also affect your brain, creating problems with memory, communication, and performance of everyday tasks.”
The Ups and Downs of Blood Glucose
Your body needs fuel to function. And that fuel is glucose. Your brain, even though it accounts for only about 2% of your total weight, uses almost 20% of the glucose in your body!
Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps your body use glucose for energy. If your pancreas produces little or no insulin, it causes type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes happens when your body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or is resistant to it.
If you or a loved one has diabetes, you understand the importance of maintaining blood glucose—also known as blood sugar—levels. Both high and low blood sugar can have a serious impact on your brain.
The Effects Of High Blood Sugar
High blood sugar, called hyperglycemia, can damage blood vessels and circulation in your brain. This decreases the amount of oxygen your brain receives, killing brain cells, causing cognitive problems, and raising the risk of a stroke.
High blood sugar can:
- Increase serotonin, which helps regulate attention, behavior, and body temperature. Excessive serotonin can lead to brain cell damage, nerve damage, and brain inflammation; all contribute to cognitive problems.
- Damage the brain’s white matter, which helps nerves communicate with each other. This damage can lead to dementia or cognitive impairment, causing changes in memory, thinking, and behavior.
- Degrade the myelin sheath, which protects nerve cells in your brain. If nerves in the brain can’t send and receive signals, brain cells die.
The Effects Of Low Blood Sugar
Without enough glucose for energy, your brain can’t function properly. Low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, can occur as a side effect of medication, after an intense workout, or if you skip a meal.
The lower your blood sugar, the worse the symptoms, which you can feel immediately. You may experience:
- Trouble thinking and reasoning
- Headaches, dizziness, and trouble talking or walking
- Convulsions, seizures, or even a coma
Diabetes Increases the Risk of Brain Dysfunction
People with diabetes have an increased risk for various neurocognitive disorders (conditions that impair the way your brain functions), including:
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
As we get older, it’s not unusual for our memory and thinking to decline. MCI happens when that decline happens faster than normal, interfering with our everyday life. Diabetes can cause MCI by disrupting glucose levels and reducing brain blood flow.
Researchers have found that people with diabetes and MCI are 65% more likely to develop dementia.
Dementia
The longer you have diabetes, the more likely you will develop dementia.
High blood glucose levels are associated with an increased risk of dementia, even among people who don’t have diabetes.
Apria’s Carly Burton adds, “Severe hypoglycemia and hypoglycemia increase dementia risk for older adults with type 1 diabetes.”
Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
Clinical studies demonstrate that people with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to get AD due to one or more of the following:
- Brain insulin resistance, which damages the way brain cells communicate, use energy, and fight infection.
- High blood sugar levels, which can trigger inflammation and injure blood vessels.
- Higher levels of the protein beta-amyloid, blocking nerve cells and preventing your brain from communicating with the rest of your body.
Parkinson’s disease (PD)
People with diabetes have a 30% higher chance of developing PD. It’s also thought that diabetes may speed the progression of PD.
Scientists don’t yet understand how diabetes and PD are related, but the following conditions caused by diabetes are suspected:
- Widespread inflammation in your body
- Impaired blood flow to the brain
- Nerve cell degeneration
- Insulin resistance
How To Increase Brain Health
There are many actions people with diabetes can take to help ensure the healthiest brain possible:
- Monitor your blood glucose levels. You may want to ask your doctor about a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). CGMs provide real-time glucose readings throughout the day and night. And they don’t require fingersticks like traditional glucose monitoring.
- Get plenty of quality sleep—at least 7-9 hours per night
- Exercise regularly
- Eat a healthy diet that’s low in fat, salt, and sugar
- Don’t smoke cigarettes. If you do, quit! Smokers are more likely to develop dementia than non-smokers.
- Do “mental gymnastics.” Read, take courses, learn a new hobby. Keeping your mind active will help keep it healthy.
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