Diabetes mellitus and the cognitive functions in childhood and adolescence

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) is widespread among children and adolescents in Russia. In addition to the pretty well-studied microvascular complications of the disease, scientific sources also describe the brain damage that is manifested by cognitive impairment. Despite the problem being studied actively by researchers Worldwide, they have reported mixed and sometimes contractionary results. Thus, as of now there are disputes about the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations and factors affecting the development of the abovementioned complications. Changes in the brain are registered at all age periods with special attention being fairly paid in childhood and adolescence because such disorders of carbohydrate metabolism during active growth can lead not only to functional, but also to structural changes in the brain. This is manifested by memory impairment and decreased attention concentration, which in its turn negatively affects the academic performance of schoolchildren and therefore reduces the quality of life of patients. Further study of this problem would help developing an algorithm for early diagnosis of cognitive impairment among children and adolescents with DM1 in order to increase compliance among patients, reduce the risk of microvascular complications and possible disability in older age. A promising direction in the diagnosis of cognitive disorders are neuroimaging methods, which, as opposed to neuropsychological tests, are helping to identify morphofunctional changes in the brain. This bibliographical review describes the etiology of cognitive disorders in children and adolescents with DM1, the main variants of cognitive dysfunction, the effect of the disease on schooling performance and neuroimaging disorders of the brain.