32-year follow-up of Type 1 Diabetes: Severe cognitive decline, which is well controlled, is equivalent to 9.4 years old

With the progress of diagnosis and treatment, the life expectancy of patients with type 1 diabetes is increasing, and this also brings new problems: patients with type 1 diabetes may face a higher risk of aging-related diseases, such as cognitive dysfunction and dementia

Recently, "The Lancet-Diabetes and Endocrinology" published 32-year follow-up results of important research in the field of type 1 diabetes, which provided new insights

The data published this time comes from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and its follow-up Diabetes Intervention and Complication Epidemiology (EDIC) study

This latest important long-term observation focuses on independent risk factors for cognitive decline in patients with type 1 diabetes

During the 32-year follow-up, the research team found that in the second and fifth years, the memory, consciousness, and mental efficiency of these type 1 diabetic patients improved, but they all declined significantly over time

▲Cognitive function changes in patients with type 1 diabetes during follow-up, including immediate memory (blue), delayed memory (orange), conscious activity and mental efficiency (purple) (picture source: reference [1])

Analysis of influencing factors found that, independent of other risk factors and comorbidities, exposure to higher HbA1c levels, more severe hypoglycemia episodes and increased systolic blood pressure, these factors are more related to conscious activities and mental efficiency The decline is related, and this is most significant in the 32nd year

For example, for every 1% increase in HbA1c level, the performance of conscious activity and mental efficiency is equivalent to aging 3.

In contrast, patients with the best blood sugar control did not show any decline in conscious activity or mental efficiency during the observation period

Based on these data, the research team pointed out that in patients with type 1 diabetes, cognitive function declines with aging

Note: The original text has been deleted

Reference

[1] Alan M Jacobson, et al.

[2] Brian M Frier.