Diabetes Research

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High Blood Sugar, As Well As Low, Slows The Mind

By Karla Gale

Last Updated: 2004-12-22 14:11:35 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many people with diabetes find that they become

mentally and physically sluggish during periods when their blood sugar level

rises in the course of their daily routines, investigators report.

Most people with diabetes are aware of problems when their blood sugar

levels drop too far. However, patients also often report not feeling well

when their blood glucose levels are high, Dr. J. told Reuters

Health -- but lacking " a clear theory as to why that happens, patient

complaints were typically being ignored, " he said.

While laboratory studies have shown that mental performance declines when

blood glucose is artificially raised, " this is not a realistic environment, "

the researcher added.

, at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, and his

colleagues therefore conducted a field study with 196 subjects with Type 1

diabetes and 34 with Type 2 diabetes.

The team instructed the participants to complete tests assessing verbal and

mathematical skills using hand-held computers immediately before routine

self-monitoring of blood glucose, three to four times daily.

Approximately half the subjects made more errors and had slower responses

when blood glucose exceeded a certain point, the researchers report in the

medical journal Diabetes Care.

pointed out that to avoid a drop in performance associated with low

blood glucose, people often load up on carbohydrates before " cognitively

sensitive procedures, " such as exams.

" But they in fact could being doing themselves a significant disservice, "

he said, and would perform better by avoiding both high and low extremes of

blood glucose levels.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, January 2005.