In type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin.
This could stop pancreas making insulin, which in turn make glucose not get into cells and blood sugar rise to an abnormal level.
In a recent study, researchers find that type 1 diabetes may also influence patients’ cognitive ability.
In the study, researchers compared people who have lived successfully with type 1 diabetes for at least decades with people of similar age with type 2 diabetes or without diabetes.
They tested these people’s memory, psychomotor speed and executive function (higher cognitive processes involved in decision-making).
The team find that in people who live with type 1 diabetes for very long duration, they may show signs of mild decreases in cognitive functions, especially in memory function.
The mild cognitive declines don’t appear in clinical signs and remain in the normal range of function for people their age.
It is the first study that evaluates whether cognitive function is changing in people who have successfully managed their type 1 diabetes.
Previous studies have shown the same effect for people with type 2 diabetes, but the changes in memory in aging people with type 1 diabetes had not been clearly established.
The researchers conclude that these small deficits in cognitive functions can be avoided with self-care behaviors that help reduce diabetes complications.
Researchers say that this finding provides another incentive for people with type 1 diabetes to keep doing physical exercise, in addition to following general guidelines for healthcare and diabetes control.
With the incidence of type 1 diabetes on the rise, the research team will continue to examine the long-term effects of the disease on cognition and other life functions.
They want to better understand these processes and find therapies to protect against them.
Since both eye and cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients are treatable, they hope the cognitive decline in type 1 diabetes is also preventable.
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