A new study published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) reveals that overweight and obese individuals with early stage type 2 diabetes (T2D) had more severe and progressive abnormalities in brain structure and cognition compared to normal-weight study participants.

Chronic T2D is already known to increase the risk of a range of health problems in multiple organs throughout the body. Complications in the brain caused by the disease may accelerate cognitive dysfunction, and even increase the risk of dementia.

Obesity is linked to an increased risk of T2D and can often precede its onset. Additionally, being overweight has been linked to metabolic dysfunction, which is independently associated with brain alterations, as well as carrying a risk of further exacerbating metabolic abnormalities arising from T2D.

The study found that grey matter was significantly thinner in clusters in the temporal, prefrontoparietal, motor and occipital cortices of the brains of diabetic study participants.