9 September 2014
Tianjin, China - Researchers at School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University announced findings from a new study entitled, “Conversion of mild cognitive impairment to dementia among subjects with diabetes: a population-based study of incidence and risk factors with five years of follow-up.” These new findings suggest that in a survival analysis of the cohorts, Type 2 diabetes mellitus with mild cognitive impairment (T2DM-MCI) accelerated the median progression to dementia by 2.74 years. In a multivariable analysis of the T2DM-MCI cohort, major risk factors for dementia were age >75 years and longer durations of diabetes, while significantly reduced risks of dementia were associated with oral hypoglycemic agents and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. Insulin was not associated with significantly changed risk. This study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and can be found in an early online edition.
T2DM is associated with dementia. MCI is a key determinant in this association. It is not clear whether T2DM increases the risk of conversion from MCI to dementia. Researchers plan to explore the relationship between T2DM-MCI and dementia，identify its potential risk factors.
A prospective community-based cohort study was conducted from March 2010 to March 2014, including 634 participants with T2DM-MCI, 261 T2DM participants with cognitively intact and 585 MCI participants without diabetes. All cohort members received detailed annual evaluations to detect dementia onset during 5 years of follow-up. The 3 cohorts were compared to assess differences in dementia onset. Further, Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify risk factors for dementia onset in the T2DM-MCI cohort.
The results of this study demonstrated strong evidence that T2DM-MCI may aggravate the clinical picture as a concomitant factor. Several modifiable diabetes-specific features such as duration of disease, glycemic control and antidiabetic agents represent potential areas for therapeutic interventions to minimize progression to dementia.
“Our results highlight the importance of diabetes control for preventing or postponing dementia in persons with T2DM-MCI. Interventions that improve the profile of diabetes-related factors may reduce the risk of dementia onset; future research should aim to determine the effectiveness of these interventions for reducing dementia risk.”, said Dr. Guowei Huang, Professor and Dean in Department of Nutrition and Food Science, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University.
This research was supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 81130053).
Correspondence to:
Dr. Guowei Huang
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
School of Public Health
Tianjin Medical University
Tel: 86-22-83336606
Fax: 86 22-83336603
E-mail: huangguowei@tmu.edu.cn
