THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN ELDERLY TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, KOLAR.

Dr. Spandana Peddareddy* and Dr. Prabhakar K.

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of both type 2 diabetes and dementia has increased significantly over the past 2 decades. These parallel increases may be explained by a common metabolic pathology because type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for the development of Alzheimer disease. Diabetes has also been associated with cognitive impairment, which is defined as the degree of cognitive dysfunction that exists between normal aging and dementia. Cognitive impairment, even when mild, is a predictor for the development of dementia and Alzheimer disease. Therefore, identifying the disease processes that link diabetes and cognitive impairment could be important for identifying patients at risk for dementia and for the development of preventive interventions in the diabetes population. Objective of The Study: To study the association between severity of diabetic retinopathy and cognitive impairment in elderly diabetic individuals. Statistical Analysis and Results: A descriptive study method was done and 100 patients of elderly diabetics were taken up for the study. Fundoscopy was done to see for retinopathy and MMSE scale was done see for cognitive impairment. Various variables like HbA1c and cognitive function and retinopathy changes were taken into consideration and P value was calculated for knowing the association between these variables. P value of < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: There was an association between HbA1C levels and cognitive impairment and patients with higher HbA1C have more cognitive impairment. The association between HbA1C levels and Diabetic retinopathy changes aws also seen in our study. But interestingly we found that there was no significant association between Diabetic retinopathy and severity of cognitive Impairment. Conclusion: A poor control of diabetes was found to cause cognitive impairment and severe retinopathy changes, but there was no association between diabetic retinopathy changes and severity of cognitive dysfunction.

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, Cognitive impairment, HbA1c levels.