Saedi E, Gheini MR, Faiz F, Arami MA. Diabetes mellitus and cognitive impairments. World J Diabetes 2016; 7(17): 412-422 [PMID: 27660698 DOI: 10.4239/wjd.v7.i17.412]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mohammad Ali Arami, MD, Department of Neurology, Milad General Hospital, Hemmat Highway, Tehran 1449614531, Iran. arami_ma@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Clinical Neurology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Diabetes. Sep 15, 2016; 7(17): 412-422 Published online Sep 15, 2016. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v7.i17.412
Diabetes mellitus and cognitive impairments
Elham Saedi, Mohammad Reza Gheini, Firoozeh Faiz, Mohammad Ali Arami
Elham Saedi, Amir Alam Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Neurology, Amir Alam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1416753955, Iran
Mohammad Reza Gheini, Department of Neurology, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1416753955, Iran
Firoozeh Faiz, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Amir Alam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1416753955, Iran
Mohammad Ali Arami, Department of Neurology, Milad General Hospital, Tehran 1449614531, Iran
Author contributions: All authors have contributed equally to this paper with the conception, literature review, drafting, critical revision and editing.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mohammad Ali Arami, MD, Department of Neurology, Milad General Hospital, Hemmat Highway, Tehran 1449614531, Iran. arami_ma@yahoo.com
Telephone: +98-912-1571656 Fax: +98-216-6760245
Received: April 29, 2016 Peer-review started: May 3, 2016 First decision: June 17, 2016 Revised: July 28, 2016 Accepted: August 6, 2016 Article in press: August 8, 2016 Published online: September 15, 2016
Abstract
There is strong evidence that diabetes mellitus increases the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Insulin signaling dysregulation and small vessel disease in the base of diabetes may be important contributing factors in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia pathogenesis, respectively. Optimal glycemic control in type 1 diabetes and identification of diabetic risk factors and prophylactic approach in type 2 diabetes are very important in the prevention of cognitive complications. In addition, hypoglycemic attacks in children and elderly should be avoided. Anti-diabetic medications especially Insulin may have a role in the management of cognitive dysfunction and dementia but further investigation is needed to validate these findings.
Core tip: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Impairment of insulin signaling is a critically important factor and may be the cornerstone of the development of these cognitive sequences regardless of diabetic status. Therefore, anti-diabetic medications especially insulin therapy may have a significant role in the management of various cognitive and mental dysfunctions.
