Insulin plays a major role in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This hormone helps convert glucose into energy so that the body can properly burn glucose as it enters the body. In type 2 diabetes, however, the body becomes resistant to insulin to the point where it can no longer serve its function.
As a result, glucose does not get converted to energy and ends up flooding blood vessels, damaging everything along the way. This wreckage is what makes type 2 diabetes a fatal disease.
Insulin Resistance Leads to Cognitive Decline
A 20-years study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that participants with insulin resistance were far more likely to show poorer cognitive functioning than those with functioning insulin.
The researcher followed a group of nearly 500 participants that all had established cardiovascular disease. At the beginning of the study, they assessed their baseline insulin resistance along with their overall cognitive functioning. They gave the same assessments to the participants 15 years later and again 5 years after that.
This study was not meant to be about diabetes. In fact, it was started to help prevent cognitive decline in patients with cardiovascular disease. By finding such a clear link between insulin resistance and cognitive decline, though, researchers are questioning the relationship between diabetes and cognitive functioning.
Type 2 Diabetes and Cognitive Functioning
If you have type 2 diabetes and want to avoid cognitive decline, reversing insulin resistance may be the way to go. How can you do that? The magic combo: healthy diet and regular exercise.
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Science Daily. URL Link. Accessed March 22, 2017.
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