Blood sugar processing tied to brain problems
By Nathan Seppa
People with diabetes experience more short-term-memory problems on average than do people without the disease. Researchers now report that some nondiabetic people who nevertheless have slightly elevated blood sugar concentrations also have short-term memory impairment.
Moreover, these people have a smaller hippocampus on average than do those without high blood sugar, report Antonio Convit, a psychiatrist at the Nathan Kline Research Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, N.Y., and his colleagues. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that retrieves short-term memories, such as what one had for breakfast.