How Can You Minimize Effects of Type 1 Diabetes?

Joslin Diabetes Center carried out research with the intention of determining what extended Type 1 diabetes duration can do to one’s cognitive function.

The researchers came to the discovery that decreased cognitive ability could be spotted in patients aged 50 years and above.

How the Study was done

In order to carry out this study, the US researchers involved 82 participants who were codenamed Joslin Medalists. They were tasked to complete a series of memory tests and then comparisons made against Type 2 diabetes patients aged 31. 30 Control non-diabetic participants were also involved.

Even though the cognitive ability of the Medalists was found to be lower than those without diabetes, the results were overall positive. Generally, they could not spot mild cognitive signs in the Medalists as they performed comparably well for people in their age group.

Gail Musen, the study’s lead author, said that “Nobody among the Medalists needs to worry; this is a very healthy group that’s showing minimal signs of cognitive decline.”

Musein is a Ph.D. holder and an assistant investigator at the Joslin Research Unit.

She added the small deficits can be improved if individuals were serious about self-care behaviors necessary to curb diabetic complications.

The study was published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Good Control of Type 1 Diabetes

The Medalists who could live for more than 50 years were generally living healthy lifestyles and maintaining a good control of Type 1 diabetes.

If you are type 1 diabetic, you can take charge of your health by controlling levels of blood sugar, eating unprocessed foods, regularly exercising, avoiding smoking or regular intake of alcohol and generally eating healthy, farm foods.

According to the researchers, the new findings continue to increase the weight of regularly exercising since increased body activity is associated with improved cardiovascular health. You may want to see a BLS healthcare provider for further guidance on your cardiovascular health.

“We are hopeful that soon we can prevent Type 1 diabetes because already we are able to treat eye and cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients,” said George King.

King is the Director of Joslin Research Division the institution’s Chief Scientific Officer.

“We are looking forward to expanding the sample size of this study so as to gain a better insight into these processes and develop therapies that can fight them,” he added.