On three cognitive tests that measure abilities on information-processing, speed and verbal intelligence, people with type 1 diabetes got lower scores than others.

Senior author Dr. Caterina Rosano, associate professor in Pitt Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology, said that severity of cognitive complications and cerebral small vessel disease which can starve the brain of oxygen is much more intense than they expected, but it can be measured in a clinical setting.
Rosano continued that further study in younger patients is needed, but it stands to reason that early detection and intervention such as controlling cardiometabolic factors and tighter glycemic control, which help prevent microvascular complications also could reduce or delay these cognitive complications.
The people with type 1 diabetes were all participants in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study.
The MRIs showed that 33 percent of the people with type 1 diabetes had moderate to severe levels of white matter hyperintensities (markers of damage to the brain’s white matter, present in normal aging and neurological disorders) compared with 7 percent of their non-diabetic counterparts.
On three cognitive tests that measure abilities such as information-processing speed, manual dexterity and verbal intelligence, the people with type 1 diabetes averaged lower scores than those without the condition.
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Lead author Karen A. Nunley, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in Pitt Public Health’s neuroepidemiology program said that people with type 1 diabetes were living longer than ever before, and the incidence of type 1 diabetes was increasing annually.
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Source-Medindia