Chronically Elevated Blood Sugar Linked with an Increased Risk of Dementia

The four-year study was the first to investigate the association over time between glycosylated hemoglobin -- a long-term measure of blood sugar -- and the risk of cognitive difficulties.

10/08/06 A U.S. study of elderly women suggests chronically elevated blood sugar is associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia.

The four-year study was the first to investigate the association over time between glycosylated hemoglobin -- a long-term measure of blood sugar -- and the risk of cognitive difficulties. It was also the first to investigate that association in people without diabetes.

"We already know there's a connection between diabetes and cognitive problems," said lead author Dr. Kristine Yaffe of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and a professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology at the University of California-San Francisco.

"We were interested in what this measurement would tell us about a group of women with and without diabetes who were followed for four years," Yaffe said. "Nobody has really looked at that before."

The researchers found women with a glycosylated hemoglobin of 7 percent or higher at baseline were four times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia than were women who tested at less than 7 percent.