Hypoglycemia in diabetics occurs when the blood glucose levels drop too low, causing dizziness, disorientation, fainting or seizures. Diabetics usually manage their crises of hypoglycemia on their own, but there are cases when these crises require hospitalization or an emergency room visit.

 

Kaiser Permanente researchers studied the health records of more than 16,000 people with type 2 diabetes, tracking episodes of severe hypoglycemia over a 22-year period. They then followed patients for four more years to track diagnoses of dementia.

 

The researchers found that the risk of dementia among patients experiencing a single episode of hypoglycemia was 26 percent higher than the risk for patients who had never had an episode.

 

Patients experiencing two episodes were 80 percent more likely to be diagnosed with dementia, while those experiencing three episodes or more had a 94 percent increase in risk, or almost double the odds of developing dementia.

 

Rachel Whitmer, a Kaiser research scientist, said the findings should encourage diabetics to check their blood sugar regularly in order to avoid hypoglycemia crises, and thus dementia diagnoses.

 

Dementia affects one in 20 people with ages ranging from 65 to 74 and almost half of those over 85 are diagnosed with dementia. The most commonly symptom is memory loss, as well as difficulty to remember recently learned facts. The number of people who suffer from memory loss is predicted to quadruple worldwide over the next half century.