The feasibility study involving continuous glucose monitoring sensors in hospital patients with type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment.
Background
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and dementia are two of the leading chronic diseases in aging and are known to influence each other’s disease progression. There is well-established evidence that T2DM increases the risk for cognitive decline and dementia. At the same time, people with cognitive changes or dementia can find it difficult to manage their diabetes, resulting in hyper- or hypoglycaemic events which can exacerbate the dementia disease progression further. Monitoring of glucose variability is, therefore, of critical importance during aging and when people with T2DM develop dementia.
The advent of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has allowed the monitoring of glucose variability in T2DM more closely. The CGM seems to be highly feasible and acceptable to use in older people with T2DM and has been shown to significantly reduce their hypoglycaemic events, often resulting in falls. Less is known as to whether CGM can have a similar beneficial effect on people with T2DM who have cognitive impairment or dementia in hospital settings.
Project Aims
- To understand the feasibility of CGM sensors in inpatients with type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment.
- To understand the acceptability of CGM sensors in the study population
- To understand the link (if exists) between glucose variability captured via CGM and cognition and clinical outcomes.
Project Activity
- Wearing CGM up to 10 days.
- Sociodemographic questionnaires and cognitive tests including Mini-ACE, AMT, spatial working memory, TMT, cognitive change index, RCFT, logical memory.
- DBS (dried blood spots) collection (to analyse proteins associated with dementia).
Anticipated or actual outputs
According to previous literature, the CGM seems to be highly feasible and acceptable to use in older people with T2DM and has been shown to significantly reduce their hypoglycaemic events, often resulting in falls. However, less is known as to whether CGM can have a similar beneficial effect on people with T2DM who have cognitive impairment or dementia in hospital settings.
Papers/resources associated with this project
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/19322968241301058
Who is involved?
- PI - PhD student Busra Donat Ergin, Norwich Medical School, UEA.
- CI and Academic Supervisor - Prof Michael Hornberger, Norwich Medical School, UEA.
