Australian scientists have claimed to discover a direct link between diabetes type 2 and reduced brain function.
According to ABC report today, Sydney Memory and Ageing Study in the latest finding revealed older people who developed the disease experienced a greater decline in brain performance than those without the condition.
The two-year research which followed 880 people aged between 70 and 90 also found maintaining stable blood sugars reduces the risk.
Study leader Katherine Samaras said it was a breakthrough.
"It's not necessarily related to a duration effect of diabetes," Samaras said.
"Even if you've reached your mid 70s or early 80s and you haven't got diabetes, if you're pre-diabetec, you probably should be doing everything to prevent getting diabetes because we think that that may actually halt that cognitive decline that we are seeing," she said.
Published 29 August 2013, 16:10 IST