A nine-year study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center suggests that diabetes is a possible risk factor for cognitive decline in older adults.

The study included 3,369 older adults and each subject underwent cognitive testing at the beginning of the study and at intervals throughout. According to the results, the 717 participants that had diabetes at the beginning of the study had lower test scored than the rest of the group.

During the course of the study, the test scores of those with diabetes declined more sharply compared to the scores of participants without diabetes. Those that did not control their glucose levels also showed a lower average on their cognitive test scores. Researchers also found that the 159 participants that developed diabetes during the course of the study showed no significant difference in test scores to those without diabetes.

The study was published in Archives of Neurology on June 18, 2012.

Source: Women’s College Hospital

Tags: cognitive decline, diabetes, glucose levels