Study Claims Fat Intake Associated with Cognitive Decline in Diabetics

A recent study has reportedly linked cognitive decline in some diabetic women to high intakes of saturated and trans fats and low intakes of polyunsaturated fats during midlife. Elizabeth E. Devore, “Dietary Fat Intake and Cognitive Decline in Women With Type 2 Diabetes,” Diabetes Care, April 2009. Harvard Medical School researchers apparently assessed the cognitive functioning of approximately 1,500 women with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, finding that those in the highest tertile of trans fat intake scored 0.15 standard units lower on six cognitive function tests when compared to women in the lowest tertile.

“This mean difference was comparable with the difference we find in women 7 years apart in age,” stated the authors, who noted a need for “further research to confirm these findings and explore additional strategies for maintaining cognitive health in diabetes – especially in women, who can have a higher lifetime prevalence of both type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairments than men.” See Reuters Health, April 8, 2009; Physicians for Responsible Medicine Press Release, April 9, 2009.