"Managing blood sugar and blood pressure to prevent fluctuations can help prevent dementia."

 

 

A study of 2,600 participants found that greater blood sugar and blood pressure variability was associated with decreased cognitive function.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seong Seo-ho

 

Managing blood sugar and blood pressure so that they do not change significantly can prevent cognitive decline and dementia. Research results have shown that it is possible.

 

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health on the 22nd, Professor Seo Sang-won of the Department of Neurology at Samsung Seoul Hospital analyzed the effects of blood sugar and blood pressure variability on cognitive function in approximately 2,600 people without dementia and derived these results.

The study found that as blood sugar variability increased, or blood sugar control ability decreased, degeneration of cerebral white matter and accumulation of amyloid proteins increased.

 

Damage to the small blood vessels in the white matter of the brain is called white matter degeneration, and the greater the degeneration, the greater the risk of dementia and stroke.

 

When abnormalities of tau protein, which plays an important role in maintaining the skeleton of brain cells after excessive accumulation in the brain, occur, nerve cells are destroyed and cognitive dysfunction occurs.

Blood sugar levels fluctuate due to irregular meals or high carbohydrate and simple sugar intake, and these eating habits can reduce cognitive function.

Professor Seo's team also confirmed the correlation between blood pressure variability and cognitive function.

The study found that greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure variability was associated with increased tau accumulation, and that greater diastolic blood pressure fluctuations were associated with atrophy in the hippocampus, a region of the brain responsible for controlling long-term memory.

Professor Seo emphasized, "To prevent dementia, blood pressure must be effectively controlled," and "dementia can also be prevented by controlling blood sugar levels."

 

According to the National Dementia Center of the National Medical Center, the average dementia prevalence rate in Korea is 10.4%, and the estimated number of dementia patients among the elderly population aged 65 and older is approximately 935,000 as of 2022.

 

The total number of people who died from dementia in 2022 was 14,136, a 36.6% increase from the previous year.

The dementia mortality rate increased by 7.4 to 27.6 per 100,000 people.

 

The annual cost of managing a dementia patient is estimated at approximately 22.2 million won. Direct medical expenses (53.3%), including medical and pharmaceutical costs, account for the largest portion.

 

The annual medical cost per dementia patient is approximately 2.8 million won.

 

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These days, dementia tests seem to be different from the past.

If you just manage your blood sugar and blood pressure well,

It can prevent dementia~