A new research pointed out that people who develop diabetes during their adulthood are more likely to experience a slowdown in their cognitive abilities in their fifties.

The study, which was published in the journal Neuropsychology on Tuesday, concluded that people who suffer from adult on-set diabetes return lower results on cognitive tasks than healthy subjects. The researchers selected a group of healthy subjects and a group of patients with diabetes and asked them to solve two cognitive tests.

The first test measured how fast the subjects were in solving the tasks and the other gathered data about how the subjects manage to develop efficient plans and strategies. While the study showed that thinking-related capabilities were affected, it seems that all subjects performed similarly on memory and verbal abilities tests.

Roger Dixon, head of the research and psychologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, stated that the study should be considered a warning signal, as diabetes is widespread among citizens across the United States. Furthermore, he recommended that people who suffer from diabetes should be monitored permanently and should go through a mental training.

Mental capabilities degradation at people who suffer from diabetes was a long-known fact, but the new research pointed out that this process starts much earlier than it has been previously known. Currently, more than 24 million people suffer from diabetes in the United States.