Diabetes may cause premature aging, reveals new study

Scientists from University of Pittsburgh Schools revealed that people with type 1 diabetes show signs of premature aging that is correlated with slower information processing.

The study was carried out in middle aged diabetes patients. 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.

Senior author Caterina Rosano, M.D., M.P. H., associate professor of Pitt Public Health’s Department of Epidemology 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. He continued saying, further study in younger patients is needed, but it stands to reason that early detection and intervention such as cardiometabolic factors and tighter glycemic control, which help prevent microvascular complications also could reduce or delay these cognitive complications.

Responding to the study result, the lead author Karen A.Nunley, Ph.D., stated that people with type 1 diabetes were living longer than ever before, and the incidence of type 1 diabetes was increasing annually.

By Lizitha