Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes are associated with accelerated brain aging, according to a  study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. However, this may be counteracted by a healthy lifestyle.

The study included more than 31,000 people between 40 and 70 years of age from the UK Biobank database who had undergone a brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan. The researchers used an approach called machine learning to estimate brain age in relation to the person's chronological age.

Prediabetes and diabetes were associated with brains that were 0.5 and 2.3 years older than chronological age, respectively. In people with poorly controlled diabetes, the brain appeared more than four years older than chronological age. The researchers also noted that the gap between brain age and chronological age increased slightly over time in people with diabetes.

Repeated MRI data were available for a small proportion of the study participants and showed that the brain age gap (BAG) was more pronounced in men and in people with two or more cardiometabolic risk factors. Further analysis suggested that having a healthy lifestyle (i.e., no smoking, no heavy drinking, and high physical activity) significantly attenuated the diabetes-BAG association.

To download the study, published in Diabetes Care, click here