Do high sugar levels shrink the brain?

• April 24, 2024

According to a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology , people with high blood sugar levels, or who are in the upper end of the normal range, have a higher risk of cerebral shrinkage, which occurs with the aging and for diseases like dementia .

The author of the study, Nicolas Cherbuin, of the Australian National University , in Canberra, explains that numerous studies have shown a relationship between type 2 diabetes and contraction of the brain and the dementia , but that until now it was not known if people with a high blood sugar level experience the same effects.

During the investigation, 249 people aged 60 to 64 years who had a blood sugar level within the normal range participated, and brain scans were performed at the beginning of the study and four years later.

As part of the results, they found that those with a high fasting blood sugar level, within the normal range, were more likely to show a loss of brain volume in the areas of the hippocampus and amygdala, areas involved in the memory and cognitive abilities, than those with lower blood sugar levels.

Once the factors of high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol consumption and other factors were controlled by age, the scientists observed that blood sugar in the high range of normality influences between 6 and 10% in the contraction of the blood. brain .

In this sense, the author clarifies that "these findings suggest that even among people who do not have diabetes, a high blood sugar level could have an impact on brain health."

He also emphasizes that these results could allow them to reassess the concept of normal blood sugar levels, and even, the same definition of diabetes. "