Pickled Diabetic Melon - Proof

Good Day!  I am so happy to hear from Y'all! 

As promised I did a review of some literature to check into the "Pickled Brain Syndrome" I blamed my recent act of stupidity on.  Here are a few I found to chew on.

Malone and colleagues did  a study  using rats that showed the following in support of  the “Pickled Brain” theory.

Hyperglycemia, but not hypoglycemia, was associated with adverse effects on the brain polyol pathway activity, neuronal structural changes, and impaired long-term spatial memory. This finding suggests that the hyperglycemic component of diabetes mellitus has a greater adverse effect on brain functioning than does intermittent hypoglycemia.

In other words the brains pathways involved in memory access is hampered when PWD experience high blood glucose. Gee I could have used this information years ago for all sorts of evil means.

 

Perantie and company performed a study that set out to determine whether hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia resulted in cognitive impairment in Type 1 children.

What they found was the following:

 The group with T1DM had lower estimated verbal intelligence than sibling controls. Within the T1DM group, verbal intelligence was reduced with increased exposure to Hyper, not to Hypo. In contrast, spatial intelligence and delayed recall were reduced only with repeated Hypo, particularly when Hypo episodes occurred before the age of 5 yr.

What the hell. Like we Parents want to read this.  I think I turned out okay, I managed to complete post secondary education, but I remember having “good” exams days, and “bad” exam days, and in retrospect the bad ones were the “My Sugars Out of Whack Days”

As my wife constantly says in our house, “Protect her little brain”

Sommerfield and colleagues examined a group of adult type 2 diabetics and found strikingly similar findings as the above two studies. 

Speed of information processing, working memory, and some aspects of attention were impaired during acute hyperglycemia. Subjects were significantly more dysphoric during hyperglycemia, with reduced energetic arousal and increased sadness and anxiety.

The findings above support the pickled brain syndrome. Not only memory but mood as well, which for children who are already emotionally challenged makes for a challenging scenario.   Damn high blood sugars!

Kubiak and his folks reviewed some research and discussed this the effect of post meal glucose spikes on memory.

 If you link to the publication near the end there is discussion about post meal blood sugar highs impairing memory in Type 2 Diabetes. Interesting, and something else to consider when dealing with our own management.

Article Link  - To Discussion.  

This information certainly reminds me of  the importance of maintaining tight glycemic control. Not only to prevent the typical, frequently spoken about complications we constantly hear about; blindness, vascular disease, kidney failure, feet issues, penis issues, heart disease, etc. But the "Pickled Brain" issue.

Well I wish you all a fab Easter weekend!!!

Trev

Sources:

Malone, John; Hanna, Suzan; Saporta, Samuel; Mervis, Ronald F; Park, Collin R; Chong, Ling; Diamond, David M. Hyperglycmia not hypoglycemia altners neuronal dentrites and impairs spatial memory.  Pediatric Diabetes. 9(6):531-539, December 2008.

Perantie, Dana C; Lim, Audrey; Wu, Jenny; Weaver, Patrick; Warren, Stacie L; Sadler, Michelle; White, Neil H; Hershey.   Effects of prior hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia on cognition in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.Tamara.Pediatric Diabetes. 9(2):87-95, April 2008.

Sommerfield, Andrew J. MRCP; Deary, Ian J. PHD; Frier, Brian M. MD. Acute Hyperglycemia Alters Mood State and Impairs Cognitive Performance in People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 27(10):2335-2340, October 2004.

Kubiak, Thomas; Hermanns, Norbert; Preier, Michael; Kulzer, Bernhard; Haak, Thomas MD.

Memory Impairments Associated With Postprandial Hyperglycemia and Glycemic Control.
Diabetes Care. 27(2):634-635, February 2004.