Findings in a study lead by Scott Small, M.D., at Columbia University Medical Center have shown that blood sugar level is a key factor in disorders other than diabetes. Results of the study found that maintaining a normal blood sugar level could also help prevent age-related memory loss.
High-resolution brain imaging was used to show that rising blood sugar levels selectively target a key area of the brain that is linked to age-related memory decline, the dentate gyrus. the the dentate gyrus is is affected by changes in body weight and rising cholesterol and blood sugar levels, all changes that are typically seen with aging. However, imaging studies confirmed that rising blood sugar was the only change directly associated with decreased activity in the dentate gyrus.
These results suggests that maintaining regular exercise and a healthy diet, and hopefully a normal and constant blood sugar level, could be important to not only preventing the onset of diabetes, but also in reducing the likelihood of age-related cognitive decline.
As individuls with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, additional studies are exploring whether drugs that regulate blood sugar can help slow cognitive declines in people that have early evidence of the disease.
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