Dementia

Diabetes Severity Can Increase Risk of Dementia Onset by 70%

The severity of diabetes influenced the risk of developing dementia and early changes in the Diabetes Complication Severity Index (DCSI) could predict the level of dementia risk in patients with new-onset diabetes, according to a recent study.

In the past, diabetes has been identified as a risk factor for dementia; however, the impact of the severity of diabetes on dementia development is still unclear.
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To further explore this relationship, researchers conducted a 12-year population-based cohort study of 431,178 participants with new-onset diabetes from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The severity of diabetes was determined by the DCSI measured from the period of prediabetes in patients to the end of the follow-up

All of the participants received anti-diabetes medication during the study period.

After adjusting for comorbidity, anti-diabetes drugs, patient factors, and drug adherence, researchers found increases in dementia risk of 4%, 40%, 54%, and 70%  in patients with DCSI scores of 1, 2, 3, and >3, respectively.

"The diabetic severity and progression reflected the risk of dementia, and the early change in the aDCSI could predict the risk of dementia in new-onset diabetic patients," they concluded.

The complete study published in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

-Michelle Canales Butcher

Reference:
Chiu WC, Ho WC, Liao DL, et al. Progress of diabetic severity and risk of dementia. J Clin Enocrinol Metab. 2015 July [epub ahead of print] doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2015-1677.