Diabetes and glucometabolic markers related to cognitive outcomes in the population. Epidemiological and mechanistic aspects.

Both type 2-diabetes and cognitive impairment in old age are growing health problems in the growing elderly population. It is now well-established that diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. This research project investigates
1. Whether pre-diabetes is a risk factor for worse cognitive function in an elderly population, the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study
2. Whether biomarkers associated with glucose metabolism such as Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs), glucose, incretin hormones, insulin and glucagon are associated with cognitive function in the same cohort
3. Whether the reverse is also true i.e. that early cognitive function can predict diabetes prognosis later on in life (for diabetes type 1) in a historical cohort of young conscripts with diabetes and controls who underwent conscription in the 1950s
4. Whether polygenic risk of diabetes type 2 and hyperglycaemia is associated with validated dementia diagnoses.