Association strongest among men and people with poor cardiometabolic health<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Diabetes and prediabetes are associated with accelerated brain aging and potential dementia, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in\u00a0Diabetes Care<\/em>.<\/p>\n Abigail Dove, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues investigated the association between (pre)diabetes and older brain age. The analysis included 31,229 dementia-free adults (aged 40 to 70 years) identified from the U.K. Biobank.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 43.3 percent of participants had prediabetes, and 3.7 percent had diabetes. There were associations for both prediabetes (\u00ce\u00b2 = 0.22) and diabetes (\u00ce\u00b2 = 2.01) with a significantly higher brain age gap. Diabetes was further associated with a significant increase in brain age gap over time (\u00ce\u00b2 = 0.27). In men and in people with two or more cardiometabolic risk factors, the association between (pre)diabetes and a higher brain age gap was more pronounced. Having a healthy lifestyle (e.g., no smoking, no heavy drinking, and high physical activity) significantly attenuated the association between diabetes and brain age gap.<\/p>\n “Having an older-appearing brain for one\u00e2\u0080\u0099s chronological age can indicate deviation from the normal aging process and may constitute an early warning sign for dementia,” Dove said in a statement. “On the positive side, it seems that people with diabetes may be able to influence their brain health through healthy living.”<\/p>\n