In a nutshell
This study examined whether women with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to men. The authors concluded that women with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing vascular dementia compared to men.
Some background
Dementia is a group of brain disorders which cause memory and personality changes. Dementia may be classified as vascular (due to a disruption in blood supply to the brain) or nonvascular (blood supply is not disrupted). Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a higher risk of developing dementia. However, it is not known whether T2D women have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to men.
Methods & findings
This study aimed to determine whether T2D women have a higher risk of dementia compared to men.
This analysis summarized findings from 14 studies that investigated the risk of dementia in T2D patients. A total of 2,310,330 individuals were included. 102,174 patients had dementia.
T2D patients had a 60% higher risk of dementia compared to individuals who did not have T2D. This risk was similar among men (58%) and women (62%).
There was no difference in the risk of nonvascular dementia between men (49% increased risk) and women (53% increased risk) with T2D. Women with T2D had a 2.34 times higher risk of vascular dementia compared to women without T2D. Men with T2D had a 73% higher risk. Overall, women with T2D had a 19% higher risk of developing vascular dementia compared to men with T2D.
The bottom line
This study concluded that women with T2D have a higher risk of developing vascular dementia compared to men. However, all T2D patients had a higher risk of dementia compared to those without T2D.
The fine print
The majority of the individuals studied who had dementia were Asian. In addition, not all studies examined analyzed whether the risk of dementia subtypes differed among men and women.
Published By :
Diabetes Care
Date :
Dec 17, 2015
