Diabetes may affect brain structure and function at all ages. Older people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for the development of brain abnormalities associated with clinical progression to cognitive, learning and memory deficits. In the present issue of Diabetologia (53:2298–2306) Yau et al. now report that young obese individuals with type 2 diabetes display both structural and clinical features of brain ageing and loss of cognitive function. This study of accelerated brain ageing, if confirmed in larger cohorts, will mark a watershed in our understanding of the health consequences of early onset obesity and insulin-resistant diabetes.
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