Teens with Type 2 Diabetes Have Brain Abnormalities

Antonio Convit, MD, professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, NY, explained that, "This is the first study that shows that children with Type 2 diabetes have more cognitive dysfunction and brain abnormalities than equally obese children who did not yet have marked metabolic dysregulation from their obesity."

"The findings are significant because they indicate that insulin resistance from obesity is lowering children's cognitive performance, which may be affecting their ability to perform well in school."

Researchers studied 18 obese adolescents with Type 2 diabetes and compared them to equally obese adolescents from the same socio-economic and ethnic background but without evidence of marked insulin resistance or pre-diabetes.

Investigators found that adolescents with Type 2 diabetes not only had significant reductions in performance on tests that measure overall intellectual functioning, memory, and spelling, which could affect their school performance, but also had clear abnormalities in the integrity of the white matter in their brains.

"Now we see that subtle changes in white matter of the brain in adolescents may be a result of the abnormal physiology that accompanies Type 2 diabetes. If we can improve insulin sensitivity and help children through exercise and weight loss , perhaps we can reverse these deficits."

Online in Diabetologia, July 30, 2010.