COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN DIABETIC PATIENTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AGE OF ONSET, DURATION AND CONTROL OF DIABETES Diabetes is a systemic disease having an impact on every organ of the body including the brain with cognitive impairment being noticed in diabetic patients. Deficits have been seen in areas of psychomotor efficiency, global cognition, episodic memory, semantic memory, and working memory (Arvanitakis et al., 2004; Ryan et al., 1993). Abnormalities in cognitive functions mediated by frontal lobe (executive functions), including a number of complex behaviors such as problem solving, planning, organization, insight, reasoning, and attention, are noted in patients with diabetes (Gold et al., 1993).Bruce et al had also reported that 11.3% of elderly type 2 diabetic mellitus patients had cognitive impairment having moderate to severe deficits in activities of daily living

Bruce DG, Casey GP, Grange V, Clarnette RC, Almeida OP, Foster JK, et al. Cognitive impairment, Physical Disability and depressive symptoms in older diabetic patients. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2003; 61: 59-67

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with decrease in psychomotor speed, frontal lobe/executive function, verbal memory, processing speed, complex motor functioning, working memory, immediate recall and many others [6]

Sinclair AJ, Girling AJ, Bayer AJ. Cognitive dysfunction in older subjects with diabetes mellitus: impact on diabetes self-management and use of care services. All Wales Research into Elderly (AWARE). Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2000 Dec; 50(3): 203-12. [PubMed: 11106835