Type 2 Diabetes Increases Risk of Vascular Dementia in Women: Study

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In a new study, researchers found out that those with type 2 diabetes have a greater risk of developing dementia as compared with those without the disease. Furthermore, the study also shows that there is an even greater risk among women for vascular dementia as compared to their male counterpart.

The findings of the study, which was published online on Dec. 17 in the Diabetes Care journal of the American Diabetes Association, reveal that diabetes was associated with a 60 percent increased risk of any dementia in both men and women based on the new meta-analysis. And, in general, those women with diabetes have a 19 percent higher risk for the development of vascular dementia than men.

"Diabetes increases the risk of developing dementia, but for a major subtype of dementia—namely vascular dementia, not Alzheimer's disease - the risk is higher in women with diabetes compared with men with diabetes," said senior author Rachel Huxley, DPhil, head of the School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

"These findings add to the evidence that diabetes confers a greater vascular hazard in women compared with men. Diabetes confers a greater risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and now vascular dementia in women compared with men," she added.

The researchers took into account the data based from 14 studies, which involve more than 2.3 million individuals, and around 102,000 dementia case patients, according to Voice of America news.

There are two common forms of dementia, which are the nonvascular dementia (mainly Alzheimer's disease) and the vascular dementia, according to a report from Medscape. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, there is an accumulation of protein debris in the brain, while the vascular dementia is due to impaired blood vessels to the brain. The latter is more common among those people with diabetes.

The researchers pointed out that the disparity from the management of diabetes, particularly in the inadequate care in women, as well as, the role of biology could be the two primary reasons in the increase of diabetes-associated vascular risk in women compared with men.

"More in-depth physiological studies are needed that examine how blood glucose interacts with the vasculature and whether there are any significant sex differences," Dr. Huxley recommended.

The background information from the study notes that there are about 44 million people who are suffering from dementia in the world today. And, every year, there are 7.7 million new cases being diagnosed. And according to the forecast, the number of cases of dementia will grow double when we reach 2030 and will triple by 2050.