People with diabetes and pre-diabetes face an increased risk of accelerated brain aging, a recent study revealed. However, there is a silver lining: embracing a healthy lifestyle can counteract these effects. The researchers now say that by staying physically active, avoiding smoking, and moderating alcohol intake, you can significantly mitigate the impact on the brain.

Although diabetes is known to elevate the risk of dementia, the exact impact on brain aging remains unclear. The latest study, published in Diabetes Care, investigated how prediabetes and diabetes affect brain aging in dementia-free individuals. The study noted particularly high accelerated aging among men and those with poor cardiometabolic health.

The researchers employed machine learning to estimate brain age using MRI scans (magnetic resonance imaging) of 31,000 participants from the UK Biobank, all aged between 40 and 70 years. All the participants were free of dementia and underwent up to two brain scans over 11 years of follow-up.

The analysis showed that prediabetes was associated with a 0.5 increase in brain age and diabetes with a 2.3-year increase. The brain appeared more than four years older than chronological age in those with uncontrolled diabetes.

"The association between (pre)diabetes and higher BAG ( brain age minus chronological age) was more pronounced in men and in people with two or more cardiometabolic risk factors. In joint exposure analysis, having a healthy lifestyle (i.e., no smoking, no heavy drinking, and high physical activity) significantly attenuated the diabetes-BAG association, " the researchers wrote.

"Having an older-appearing brain for one's chronological age can indicate deviation from the normal aging process and may constitute an early warning sign for dementia," said the study's lead author Abigail Dove, from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden in a news release.

However, according to Dove, the study also offers a positive side, suggesting that those with diabetes can potentially improve their brain health through healthy living.

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder affecting approximately 1 in 10 people globally, with the number expected to rise to 643 million by 2030. As of 2021, an estimated 720 million people have prediabetes, with numbers projected to increase by 11% by 2045.

"There's a high and growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the population. We hope that our research will help prevent cognitive impairment and dementia in people with diabetes and prediabetes," Dove added.

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