Diabetes and high blood pressure cause ‘structural changes’ in the brain that make people’s thinking slower and their memory worse, scans show
- Sufferers had ‘structural changes’ in the brain’s grey and white matter
- When these individuals did a memory test they performed worse than others
- High blood pressure was associated with mental decline in mid-life, study said
High blood pressure and diabetes can impair thinking and memory, a study has found.
An examination of 22,059 brain scans – including 1,100 with diabetes – revealed ‘significant structural changes’ in the grey and white matter of those suffering from the diseases.
When these individuals did a pair-matching test with a healthy partner to assess their memory and reaction time, scientists found they fared worse than their counterparts.
The results also revealed high blood pressure was associated with worse mental decline in mid-life, between the ages 44 to 69, but had a lower impact on those aged over 70.
High blood pressure and diabetes could impair brain function, a study said. Scientists found individuals suffering from the diseases had poorer recall and reaction times (stock image)
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, said high blood pressure was associated with lower mental performance.
Writing in their paper, the scientists said the effect was small, with mental processing slowed down by only a fraction of a second.
But given the speed with which signals are passed through the body’s nerves, this small decline still had a measurable impact.
‘The major implication is that these risk factors don’t just have an influence on what happens later in life – the risk of developing dementia – they also have an impact on the brain and current levels of cognitive function in mid-life.’
The pair-matching test involved participants being shown six pairs of matching cards simultaneously which were then turned over.
They were required to identify the pairs with as few attempts as possible.
The tests were carried out on the same day as the MRI scans of the brain.
Previous studies have also linked high blood pressure to memory loss.
The World Alzheimer’s Report 2014 said that multiple studies which followed large groups of people for 15 to 40 years have demonstrated that individuals with high blood pressure in mid-life were more likely to develop vascular dementia.
Diabetes where blood sugar is poorly regulated has also been linked to memory problems, as this can to damage to the nerves in the brain and raise the risk of dementia.
High blood pressure affects one in four adults in the UK.