Diabetes as a disease of accelerated cognitive aging: role of diabetes interventions and implications for patient care

Abstract

SUMMARY Diabetes may be viewed as a disease of accelerated cognitive aging. It is a risk factor for incident dementia, cognitive decline and cognitive dysfunction. Thus, ‘diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction’ may be viewed as another long-term complication of diabetes. This paper will briefly review the evidence supporting this, will elaborate on the implications for patient care and, finally, will describe what is known regarding the effect of existing diabetes interventions on this complication.