News Desk |
Strokes are serious attacks in the brain that deprive nerve cells of oxygen by cutting off their blood supply. Without oxygen, cells soon begin to die.
Researchers from establishments in Sweden and China carried out the new study. They wanted to examine the relationship between midlife type 2 diabetes and cerebrovascular disease later in life and find out whether genetics and family background played a role.
People with type 2 diabetes tend to have more cells in the lining of their blood vessels. This tendency could reduce the likelihood of a rupture and raise the chance of a blockage.
They defined family background as including factors such as “shared childhood socioeconomic status and adolescent environment.” By studying twins, they hoped to gain insights on these potential influencers.
However, when they analyzed the results, they concluded that the link between type 2 diabetes in midlife and the risk of stroke later was independent of genetics and upbringing. In a Diabetologia paper, the authors remark that the findings “highlight the need to control midlife type 2 diabetes to help prevent blockage or narrowing of cerebral arteries in late life and reduce the incidence of strokes caused by such blockages.”
Read more: This common food additive may fuel weight gain, diabetes
Cerebrovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
Cerebrovascular disease is a group of conditions that affects the brain’s blood supply. There are two main types of cerebrovascular disease, depending on what happens to blood vessels: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic cerebrovascular disease is one that reduces the flow of blood. This can happen when a blood vessel narrows or suffers a blockage.
Hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease is the loss of blood when a blood vessel ruptures. While both types of disease can lead to stroke, the vast majority of strokes are of the ischemic type. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), stroke and diabetes are two of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
Strokes are serious attacks in the brain that deprive nerve cells of oxygen by cutting off their blood supply. Without oxygen, cells soon begin to die.
Global estimates for 2016 suggest that stroke killed nearly 6 million people, and diabetes killed close to 1.6 million that year. The vast majority of people with diabetes have type 2. The study authors explain that both type 2 diabetes and cerebrovascular disease “are complex genetic and lifestyle-related disorders.”
Scientists have implicated genes and upbringing in the development of both. However, what is not clear is whether genetics and family environment also contribute to a potential link between type 2 diabetes and cerebrovascular disease.
Read more: Type 2 diabetes patients show higher risk of liver cancer
Type 2 diabetes and risk of narrow arteries
Putting all the information together, the investigators found that 1,248 (3.8% of the cohort) had diabetes during the ages of 40–59 years and 3,121 (9.4% of the cohort) developed cerebrovascular disease at 60 years of age or later.
When they analyzed the results, the team found that — compared with not having diabetes — having type 2 diabetes in midlife was tied to double the risk of developing narrow arteries after 60 years of age.
Ischemic cerebrovascular disease is one that reduces the flow of blood. This can happen when a blood vessel narrows or suffers a blockage.
The analysis also showed that there was a tie between type 2 diabetes in midlife and a 30% higher risk of experiencing a severe blockage in a brain artery, which often results in a stroke.
The analysis found no link, however, between type 2 diabetes in midlife and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease — either intracerebral haemorrhage or subarachnoid haemorrhage — in later life.
Read more: How fasting may prevent diabetes?
When they ran the analysis, the researchers removed the effects of potential influencers, such as age, sex, education level, marital status, body mass index, cigarette and alcohol use, having heart disease, and having high blood pressure.
They used a “co-twin match analysis” to compare data from “discordant twin pairs,” meaning pairs in which one twin had the condition, and the other did not.
Looking for potential explanations
The team suggests that biological explanations for a link between type 2 diabetes and cerebrovascular disease are likely to be complex and unclear. People with type 2 diabetes tend to have abnormal levels of fats in their blood. They can also experience a much faster rate of atherogenesis, a condition in which arteries grow fatty deposits.
The analysis also showed that there was a tie between type 2 diabetes in midlife and a 30% higher risk of experiencing a severe blockage in a brain artery, which often results in a stroke.
Metabolic disruption arising from various factors could be another reason why type 2 diabetes might make cerebrovascular disease more likely. These factors might include increased blood sugar and fatty deposits, inflammation, insulin resistance and its knock-on effect of raised insulin production.
Read more: Can diabetes double the risk of heart attacks and gum diseases?
To explain the lack of a link between type 2 diabetes and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease, the researchers suggest that this could be due to the way that type 2 diabetes alters the lining of blood vessels. People with type 2 diabetes tend to have more cells in the lining of their blood vessels. This tendency could reduce the likelihood of a rupture and raise the chance of a blockage.
The team points to two main drawbacks of their study. The first is that there were insufficient numbers of twin pairs in which only one twin developed cerebrovascular disease. The second drawback was that they could not be certain of taking full account of genetic factors because they did not distinguish between identical and nonidentical twins.