TOP LINE:
Diabetes and prediabetes are associated with accelerated brain aging and brain age gaps of 2.29 and 0.50 years, respectively. This association is more visible in men and those with poor cardiovascular health but can be reduced by a healthy lifestyle.
WORK:
- Diabetes is a known risk factor for dementia, and conflicting results have been reported for prediabetes, and it is unknown whether good health can prevent the adverse effects of prediabetes.
- The researchers examined the relationship between hyperglycemia and brain aging, as well as the potential health effects in 31,229 adults without dementia (mean age, 54.8 years; 53% women). ) from the UK Biobank, including 13,518. participants with prediabetes and 1149 with diabetes.
- Participants’ glycemic status was determined by their medical history, medication use and A1c levels.
- Brain age gap was calculated as the difference between chronological age and brain age estimated from MRI data from six methods versus several hundred brain MRI phenotypes that were generated from in a group of healthy people.
- The role of sex, cardiometabolic risk factors, and lifestyle and their relationship with brain age were also examined, with a healthy lifestyle defined as no smoking, no smoking or light or moderate alcohol consumption, and high levels of physical activity.
TAKE AWAY:
- Prediabetes and diabetes were associated with a higher brain age gap than normoglycemia (beta-coefficient, 0.22 and 2.01; 95% CI, 0.10-0.34 and 1.70-2.32, respectively), and death sugar was more visible in men and women and those with diabetes. high vs low burden cardiometabolic risk factors.
- The brain ages of those with prediabetes and diabetes were 0.50 years and 2.29 years older on average than their respective chronological ages.
- In a long-term study of 2414 participants with two brain MRI scans, diabetes was associated with a 0.27-year increase in brain age, and high A1C, but not prediabetes, which was associated with a significant increase in the brain age gap.
- A healthy lifestyle moderated the association between diabetes and higher brain age (Q = .003), reducing it by 1.68 years, also with a significant interaction between glycemic level and lifestyle.
USE:
“Our findings highlight diabetes and prediabetes as appropriate targets for mental health-based interventions,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
This study, led by Abigail Dove, Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, is published online at Diabetes Care.
ACTIONS:
The generalizability of the findings was limited due to the healthy bias of volunteers in the UK Biobank. A high proportion of missing data prevented the inclusion of food in a healthy lifestyle construct. Reverse causality may be possible as an older brain may contribute to the development of prediabetes by making it more difficult to manage medical conditions and adhere to a healthy lifestyle. A1c levels were only measured at baseline, preventing analysis of changes in glycemic control over time.
DISCLOSURE:
The authors report receiving funding from the Swedish Research Council; Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare; Karolinska Institutet Research Board; Riksbankens Jubileumsfond; Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation; Alzheimerfonden disease; and Demensfonden. They declared no relevant conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors have reviewed this content before publication.
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