People with type 2 diabetes aged 50 to 80 performed worse on cognitive tests and experienced a faster rate of brain shrinkage than those without the condition

Health 31 May 2022

A stock image of a person testing their blood sugar level

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People with type 2 diabetes may experience worse mental deterioration as they get older, perhaps because parts of their brain shrink faster than those without the condition.

The finding comes from a large UK study of people with and without diabetes, based on cognitive tests and brain scans.

Type 2 diabetes involves blood sugar rising too high after meals, often because the body’s cells don’t respond properly to the hormone insulin. Insulin should cause cells to take in …