Study Links Low Blood Sugar with Dementia

Older diabetics who have a sharp drop in blood sugar may be more likely to develop dementia, a new study suggests. And low blood sugar may occur more often in those with dementia, the study also found. Diabetes medicines are used to lower blood sugar. Medicines must be kept in balance with what people eat. If they don’t eat enough or take too much medicine, they can get very low blood sugar. This is called hypoglycemia. It can lead to confusion, fainting or even a trip to the hospital. The new study included 783 adults with diabetes. They were in their 70s and did not have dementia when the study began. Researchers kept track of them for 12 years. In that time, nearly 8% had hypoglycemia at least once. Nearly 19% of people in the study developed dementia. People who had an episode of hypoglycemia were twice as likely as others to develop dementia later.