diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain

Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain, research has suggested.

Severe hypoglycaemic episodes - hypos - occur when blood sugar levels drop dangerously low.

A University of Edinburgh team found they may lead to poorer memory and diminished brain power.

The study, based on 1,066 people with type 2 diabetes aged between 60 and 75, was presented at a conference of the charity Diabetes UK. There are at least 670,000 people in England aged between 60 and 75 years old who have Type 2 diabetes and around a third of them could be at risk of a hypo. There are 2.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and up to 500,000 who have type 2 diabetes but do not know it.
It is predicted that by 2025 there will be up to four million people with diabetes in the UK.