stroke

Diabetes Tied to Poorer Cognitive Performance 3 to 6 Months Post-Stroke

Type 2 diabetes, but not prediabetes, may be tied to poorer cognitive performance 3 to 6 months after having a stroke, according to new findings.1

“Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of stroke and has been associated with cognitive impairment and may increase dementia risk. That’s why type 2 diabetes is another important target in the prevention of dementia, and the focus should be on early treatment for prediabetes to delay or prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes,” said senior study author Perminder Sachdev, MD, PhD, Scientia professor at the University of New South Wales Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing in Australia, in a press release.2

Researchers arrived at their conclusion after examining data from 7 observational studies (N = 1601) from the Stroke and Cognition (STROKOG) consortium. Mean patient age was 66.0 years. Patients were categorized by fasting glucose level (FGL) during hospitalization. Groups included:

  • Normal (FGL <6.1 mmol/L)
  • Impaired fasting glucose (FGL 6.1-6.9 mmol/L)
  • Type 2 diabetes (FGL ≥7.0 mmol/L)


A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was supported by history of diabetes mellitus and the use of diabetes medication. Linear mixed models were used to assess the cross-sectional association between glucose status and cognitive performance 3 to 6 months after stroke, and the results were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, education, stroke type, and vascular risk factors.

The results of the study indicated that the presence of type 2 diabetes was associated with significantly poorer performance in global cognition (SD, −0.59) and in all domains compared with normal FGL. However, the researchers noted, no significant difference was observed between impaired fasting glucose and normal glucose groups in global cognition (SD, −0.10) or any cognitive domain.

—Christina Vogt

References:

  1. Lo JW, Crawford JD, Samaras K, et al. Association of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes with cognitive function after stroke: a STROKOG collaboration study. Stroke. Published online May 14, 2020. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.028428
  2. Type 2 diabetes linked to worse cognitive performance after a stroke; prediabetes not linked, but prevention needed. News release. American Heart Association. May 14, 2020. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/type-2-diabetes-linked-to-worse-cognitive-performance-after-a-stroke-prediabetes-not-linked-but-prevention-needed?preview=41da