Understanding how our bodies work is key to staying healthy—especially when managing long-term conditions like type 2 diabetes. While most people know that diabetes affects blood sugar, fewer are aware that it may also influence the brain in subtle ways, long before any symptoms appear.
A recent study from Michigan Medicine has uncovered some surprising links between type 2 diabetes and changes in brain structure. The research focused on how the condition might slowly affect the brain’s health in people who have lived with diabetes for many years.
To explore this, the team studied 51 middle-aged Pima American Indian adults with long-term type 2 diabetes. Using detailed brain scans and cognitive tests, the researchers wanted to see if the disease had any hidden impact on how the brain looks and functions.
The brain scans, taken using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), revealed that participants with long-standing diabetes had a slightly thinner cortex—the brain’s outer layer, which plays a big role in thinking and memory.
These individuals also had less gray matter, which is important for processing information, and more white spots, which are often linked to aging and other health conditions.
At first glance, these findings might seem concerning. But here’s the hopeful part: despite these physical changes, the participants performed just as well as people without diabetes on memory and language tests. In other words, their thinking and communication skills were not noticeably affected, even with visible changes in their brains.
Evan Reynolds, one of the lead researchers, says this is an important discovery. It shows that type 2 diabetes may begin to change the brain quietly, without causing clear symptoms right away. That means it’s important to monitor brain health in people with diabetes—even if they seem to be doing well mentally.
The study also found that diabetes-related complications, like kidney disease or nerve problems that affect the heart, were linked to more pronounced brain changes. People with these added health issues were more likely to show significant differences in brain structure.
However, nerve damage—while common in people with diabetes—did not appear to affect memory or language directly, showing how complex the connection between diabetes and brain function really is.
Eva Feldman, a senior member of the research team, emphasized the need to raise awareness about how diabetes can impact the brain. She believes that knowing about these risks can help people with diabetes take steps to protect their brain health, possibly by managing other related conditions early on.
This research was a joint effort involving Michigan Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Monash University, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. It was funded by several organizations, including Novo Nordisk, the American Academy of Neurology, and the National Institute on Aging.
The findings, published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, provide new insight into how diabetes affects the brain even when there are no outward signs of decline. The study reminds us of the value in looking beyond blood sugar when treating and understanding diabetes.
Ongoing research is now exploring other areas, such as early ways to detect diabetes-related vision loss and how different diets might help manage the disease. Together, these studies are part of a bigger effort to improve the lives of people with diabetes—not just by treating symptoms, but by understanding how the condition affects the whole body, including the brain.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies that flaxseed oil is more beneficial than fish oil to people with diabetes, and green tea could help reduce death risk in diabetes.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies that blueberries strongly benefit people with metabolic syndrome, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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