Glucose Fluctuations Impact Cognitive Performance in Type 1 Diabetes Patients: Study

A recent research published in the Digital Medicine Journal explored the intricate relationship between glucose levels and cognitive function in individuals with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). This recent study employed cutting-edge continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology with cognitive ecological momentary assessment (EMA), that found unprecedented insights into how natural fluctuations in glucose affect cognitive performance. This study was conducted on 200 adults with T1D to elucidate the dynamic interplay between glucose levels and cognitive abilities, like the processing speed and sustained attention, in the real-world settings.

After utilizing hierarchical Bayesian modeling this study observed that cognitive performance was compromised during both hypoglycemic (low glucose) and hyperglycemic (high glucose) states. The large fluctuations in glucose levels were associated with slower and less accurate processing speed by highlighting the vulnerability of cognitive functions to glycemic variability.

Also, the study employed data-driven lasso regression to identify the clinical factors that influence the individual differences in cognitive susceptibility to glucose fluctuations. The factors such as age, frequency of hypoglycemic episodes, presence of microvascular complications and overall glucose variability emerged as significant predictors of cognitive vulnerability.

These findings underscore the critical importance of reducing glucose fluctuations to effectively manage cognitive function among individuals with T1D. Overall, the outcomes of this research deepens the understanding of the critical interplay between glucose metabolism and cognitive performance but also pave the way for more targeted interventions tailored to address cognitive vulnerabilities in T1D patients.

Reference:

Hawks, Z. W., Beck, E. D., Jung, L., Fonseca, L. M., Sliwinski, M. J., Weinstock, R. S., Grinspoon, E., Xu, I., Strong, R. W., Singh, S., Van Dongen, H. P. A., Frumkin, M. R., Bulger, J., Cleveland, M. J., Janess, K., Kudva, Y. C., Pratley, R., Rickels, M. R., Rizvi, S. R., … Germine, L. T. (2024). Dynamic associations between glucose and ecological momentary cognition in Type 1 Diabetes. In npj Digital Medicine (Vol. 7, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01036-5