Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is one the major disease burden globally. One of the significant complication of the uncontrolled Diabetics is Cognitive dysfunction & Dementia.In this study we laid focus on the Evaluation of HbA1C as a Biomarker to predict Dementia & Cognitive Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus.

 

Aim of the study: A pilot study to investigate HbA1C as a Biomarker for prediction of Dementia & Cognitive Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus in a Hospital Setting.

 

Methods and Results: A prevalence study in which 60 subjects (n=30 Type 2 Diabetics ; n = 30 non -Diabetic)were enrolled. In this study HbA1C values were correlated with that of individual memory & cognition batteries* score.

The mean values of HbA1C in the Diabetic group (n = 30) was found to be 9.19.The corresponding values of Pearson’s Correlation “r” in the diabetic group of the wrt various Cognitive batteries were : General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG)= -0.53; Attendant Informant Tool(AI) = - 0.43;Memory Impairment Screen (MIS) = -0.37 ; MINI COG = -0.29. Negative values of the Pearson’s Correlation “r” indicates that lower the respective battery score , poorer is the cognitive function.Similarly, in the non-Diabetic group (n =30),no significant Dementia &Cognitive Impairment was found when same group of Cognitive Batteries were administered.

 

Conclusion: It is quite evident from the results that HbA1C as biomarker has a great potential to predict Dementia & Cognitivedecline in uncontrolled Diabetes. However, the study needs to be conducted on a larger scale along with comparative analysis with tools like Functional MRI and other standard biomarkers.