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> > Blood Glucose Spikes Impair Mental Function
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Blood Glucose Spikes Impair Mental Function
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with type 2 diabetes experience a decline in
mental function and mood during episodes of hyperglycemia -- an excessive rise in blood
glucose -- according to new study findings.
Dr. Brian M. Frier, of Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK, and colleagues examined the
effects of acute hyperglycemia in 20 patients with type 2 diabetes.
As reported in the medical journal Diabetes Care, the participants were 61 years old on
average and had diabetes for about 6 years. They were on various types of treatment,
including antidiabetic medication and insulin.
The team used a glucose infusion to produce optimal blood glucose levels or high levels
on two occasions. During this process, the researchers tested the subjects' information
processing ability, memory, and attention level.
In addition, the patients completed a mood questionnaire during each experimental
condition.
During acute hyperglycemia, speed of information processing, working memory, and
some areas of attention were impaired.
Acute hyperglycemia also adversely affected mood, with reduced feelings of happiness
and increased agitation, anxiety, lethargy, and tiredness.
"The deleterious effects of hyperglycemia on cognitive function and mood states may
significantly interfere with many activities of daily living," Frier's group concludes.
These effects may in turn affect patients' ability to comply with strategies aimed at
treating spikes in blood glucose that occur after meals.
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