A recent study has demonstrated that high blood sugar levels, and not even those high enough to cause pre or full blown diabetes, may potentially raise the risk of a person suffering memory problems.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Agnes Flöel told Reuters Health that links had been made between blood sugar disorders, (diabetes, and a pre-diabetic condition called ‘impaired glucose tolerance’) and poor brain function and even dementia.
Flöel, who is a neurologist, said according to Fox News Health,
“We were also interested if this extends to people who are still in the normal range.”
Dr. Agnes Flöel, who led the study in Germany, could not determine as of yet whether blood sugar levels specifically caused the memory problems or whether it was to do with smaller brains that occurs with aging.
As participants were aged between 50 and 80 years old, all of whom though, did not have a history of memory problems or diabetes. The study did also exclude obese people and those who drank heavily.
The study into blood sugar and memory was laid out with each participant having a sample of blood taken after a minimum of 10 hours of abstaining from food completely. They then had an MRI scan taken of their brain to see if any visible results could be seen on the brain itself.