by KYW’s medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough

People with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s. A Japanese study followed 135 elderly participants for thirty five years.

For those who died during the study, researchers conducted autopsies on their brains and found plaques, particularly in those who had high blood sugar levels while they were alive.

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease are soaring around the world. In the earliest stages of diabetes people can develop insulin resistance where the body shows signs of not responding well to insulin that the body makes. Plaques were found in 72 percent of people with insulin resistance. These plaques on autopsy are associated with Alzheimer’s.