Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Diseases such as diabetes in the middle-age can significantly increase the risk of brain damage, leading to problems like dememtia and memory loss later in life.
According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, people who have poorly-controlled diabetes, are more at the risk of experiencing dementia or even milder forms of cognitive impairment.
The study also found out that diabetes appears to age the mind roughly five years faster beyond the normal effects of aging. For example, on average 60-year-old with diabetes experiences cognitive decline on par with a healthy 65-year-old aging normally. Decline in memory, word recall and executive function is strongly associated with progression to dementia, a loss of mental capacity severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functioning.
Diabetes can strike when a person has elevated sugar (glucose) levels in the blood, damaging tissues, causing blindness and nerve damage.
Diabetes can often be controlled through diet and exercise, as well as proper medication.
(With Agencies inputs)
