83% of menopausal women with Alzheimer’s develop type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance will lead to neurotransmission disorders like cognition and memory issues.

People with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia later in life.

Insulin also plays an incredibly important role in the brain. Insulin regulates cognition and memory, helps with the growth of neurons, helps with synaptic plasticity, prevents apoptosis or cell death, and helps with overall neurotransmission. When the body is unable to use insulin effectively, the brain suffers.

Your blood sugar goes up, and over time, that can cause harmful fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Too much insulin can throw off the balance of chemicals in your brain.

These effects on the brain are so strong that some scientists feel that Alzheimer’s related to insulin resistance should be called “type 3 diabetes.”

With diabetes, you’re at greater risk for a heart attack or stroke. And high blood sugar levels can  trigger inflammation. None of that is good for your blood vessels. Damaged vessels in your brain  could lead to Alzheimer’s.

High blood sugar has been linked to higher levels of protein pieces called beta amyloid. When these  clump together, they get stuck between the nerve cells in your brain and block signals. Nerve cells  that can’t talk to each other is a main trait of Alzheimer’s.

Effects that diabetes has on the heart and elevated blood pressure are both associated with strokes  that, in turn, can lead to dementia.

The prevalence of both type 2 diabetes and prediabetes increases with advancing age. The most  important factors leading to hyperglycaemia are as follows: deficiency of insulin secretion developing  with age, and growing insulin resistance caused by a change in body composition and sarcopaenia.

The hypothesis that an increased glucose level acts as an “aging accelerator”.

Diabetes in elderly people is often diagnosed with delay due to atypical symptoms (dementia, urinary  incontinence) and occurrence of mainly postprandial hyperglycaemia.

Elderly people are more exposed to diabetes complications, have more risk of myocardial infarction and end-stage renal disease, and are hospitalised more often due to hypoglycaemia than are younger patients.

Older adults with diabetes are at substantial risk for both acute and chronic microvascular and  cardiovascular complications of the disease.

Every glucose spike leads to glycation (the aging process of our body). Glycation leads to many age related issues. The skin is often subject to internal causative factors of aging which includes glycation,  excessive production of free radicals and oxidative stress.

Having diabetes can result in nerve damage and persistent pain, vision loss, dexterity, kidney  dysfunction, memory changes, depression, urinary incontinence or slow-healing wounds.

The perimenopause and the menopause don’t cause diabetes. But the hormonal changes in some women can lead to menopausal changes like carrying more weight round the middle especially –  and higher blood pressure. These are both risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

During Menopause both Oestrogen and progesterone production declines and that triggers blood glucose spikes and insulin resistance.

When insulin sensitivity decreases, it can lead to high blood sugar levels or hyperglycaemia. This in turn lead to increased visceral fat, weight gain, high cholesterol and high Blood pressure increasing  your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

High blood sugar levels increase the number and intensity of your hot flashes which causes sleep deprivation.

With sleep challenges, the body often produces more cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Increased cortisol levels over the long term, it will more consistently produce glucose and increase blood sugar  levels.

A constant fluctuation in blood sugar levels stimulates thyroid hormone and exerts physiological stress on the thyroid gland increasing the risk of thyroid dysfunction in the long run.

Diabetes and osteoporosis are comorbidities that affect each other. Diabetes can put you at a higher  risk for developing osteoporosis, and if you have osteoporosis, it may make managing your diabetes  more difficult.

Sugar could increase the excretion of essential nutrients which are vital for maintaining strong and healthy bones (like calcium, magnesium, and potassium) from your body.

High insulin levels can interfere with the normal reabsorption of minerals like calcium causing bone density loss, causing osteoporosis. Inflammation, which is often associated with insulin resistance and diets high in refined sugar, is also linked to bone loss and bone resorption.

Some complications of diabetes, including muscle weakness, vision issues, low blood sugar, and neuropathy in the feet can lead to an increase in falls and resulting in fractures.

Chronic high blood sugar induces the production of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (MCSF), which further degrades bone density.

Sugar negatively affects your bones by increasing glucose levels in your cells. Incomplete oxidation of the glucose forms acids, which as the word implies, acidifies the body and it will automatically react by pulling calcium from your bones thus affecting the bone health and could lead to Osteoporosis.

Both diabetes and thyroid disorders are connected to endocrine system, which produces hormones.

Thyroid gland produces thyroxine and triiodothyronine, which help regulates metabolism, mood,  breathing, and heart rate while pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that helps blood sugar, or  glucose, enter cells, providing the cells and body with essential energy. Without enough insulin, a person may develop diabetes.

Thyroid-related diseases and type 2 diabetes Mellitus are closely linked. Type 2 diabetes can be exacerbated by thyroid disorders, and diabetes can worsen thyroid dysfunction. Insulin resistance has been found to play a crucial role in both type 2 diabetes Mellitus and thyroid dysfunction.

In hyperthyroidism, increased production of glucose from the liver and increased absorption by the intestines may lead to a rise in blood sugar levels.

Patients with hypothyroidism may experience a sharp shift from a prediabetic state to a diabetic state. An underactive thyroid may also lead to aggravation in a diabetic patient. The comorbidities like obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, high body mass index (BMI) may further increase the risk of  diabetes in hyperthyroidism patients.

The high levels of blood sugar in patients with diabetes can mask the hyperglycemia, caused due to  hyperthyroidism, which can prove to be fatal. Those with hypothyroidism are at a higher risk of  developing type 2 diabetes.

Approximately 10% of patients with hypothyroidism are diagnosed with diabetes. Patients with type 1  diabetes are more prone to an autoimmune thyroid disorder.

As oestrogen levels fall, your body can become less responsive to insulin and fluctuations in hormone levels during perimenopause mean some women experience rapid changes from high to low blood sugar levels.

With uncontrolled sugar level, more of it sticks to your red blood cells and builds up in your blood.  This build-up can block and damage the vessels carrying blood to and from your heart, starving the heart of oxygen and nutrients and this can lead to serious heart complications.

Blood vessels are also damaged by high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Narrowing of the blood  vessels can cause peripheral vascular disease (PVD).

Diabetes which developed due to Hormonal shifts affects high Visceral fat, cholesterol and high blood pressure. All these risk factors are closely linked with heart and circulatory diseases.

Even for a non-diabetic, long-term elevated blood sugar can nearly double the risk of heart trouble.  For just one percentage point increase in blood glucose levels, the chance for a heart attack in diabetics increases by 18%.

When low blood sugar occurs, the body attempts to normalize levels by bringing blood glucose up. It  does this through epinephrine (adrenaline) excretion, which triggers the production of glucose in the liver as well as the release of stored glucose.

Increased epinephrine levels, however, trigger a “fight-or-flight” response in the body. This same  biochemical process is also linked to anxiety. Higher cortisol level is also linked to anxiety.

People with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have depression than people without diabetes with mild to severe symptoms. Depression is present in about one in five adults with type 2 diabetes.  Moreover, depression or depressive symptomatology exacerbates diabetes-related distress, with both conditions negatively affecting glycaemic control.

Fatigue is a symptom of hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose). When blood glucose levels are too  high, the body is not processing glucose as energy; therefore, tiredness or fatigue may occur. Fatigue  can also coexist with other conditions like Insomnia, Obesity, Widespread chronic inflammation.

It’s estimated that one in two people with type 2 diabetes have sleep problems due to unstable blood  sugar levels and accompanying diabetes-related symptoms, High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) during the night can lead to insomnia.

When blood sugar levels are high, the kidneys overcompensate by causing you to urinate more often. During the night, these frequent trips to the bathroom lead to disrupted sleep. High blood sugar may also cause headaches, increased thirst, and tiredness that can interfere with falling asleep.

A person may also oscillate between hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia-both affecting sleep.