Name Yael Reijmer
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Section Cerebrovascular Disorders
Function PhD-student
E-mail:
y.d.reijmer@umcutrecht.nl Tel: +31 88 75 57969
Supervisors dr GJ Biessels; dr RPC Kessels; prof dr LJ Kappelle
Title research Cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus: course of development and relation to vascular disease
Summary research Type 2 diabetes (DM2) is associated with cognitive impairments and an increased risk of dementia. We hypothesise that i) Cognitive impairments develop in pre-diabetic stages, before the actual onset of hyperglycaemia, and progresses gradually thereafter; ii) Vascular and metabolic factors related to the so-called "metabolic syndrome" or "insulin resistance syndrome" are the prime determinants of these early impairments; iii) Hyperglycaemia accelerates cognitive decline in more advanced stages of DM2. To test these hypotheses we examine the course of development of cognitive impairments in pre-diabetic conditions (in which insulin resistance and other components of the metabolic syndrome are present in the absence of hyperglycaemia), early DM2 and advanced DM2, and relate the severity of cognitive impairments to past and present exposure to hyperglycaemia and other metabolic and vascular indices.