Small Study Examines How T2D May Diminish Cognitive Performance.

Underscoring that reality, new research suggests that insulin resistance and elevated levels of sugar in the blood — both hallmarks of Type 2 diabetes — unleash a cascade of events that, over time, impair the brain's blood vessels. With remarkable speed — over two years during which researchers tracked a group of older adults with diabetes — those changes can sap the brain's ability to react flexibly to daily menta. The vasculature in the brains of diabetics and a healthy comparison group looked and behaved differently as well. Both at the study's start and more noticeably after two years, blood vessels in the diabetics' brains showed less ability to expand and contract to accommodate changing mental tasks. Not surprisingly, the diabetics had less brain volume too — an indication that the process of atrophy had already begun.http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-diabetes-inflammation-cognition-20150708-story.html