Here's some uplifting news for elderly diabetics -- the condition does not increase the likelihood that they'll develop Alzheimers disease, according to a report in the medical journal Neurology.

The data came from the Religious Orders Study, which included 1,000 older religious clergy (nuns, priests and brothers). The goal of the Religious Orders Study is to evaluate the transition from a normal functioning brain to the mild cognitive impairment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. The participants agreed to an evaluation each year and brain donation after death. Of the 233 autopsied participants, researchers found just over one third had one or more cerebral infarctions, and patients with diabetes were about 2.5 times more likely than others to have cerebral infarction. A cerebral infarction, also called a stroke, is a life-threatening condition marked by a sudden disruption in the blood supply to the brain The levels of Alzheimer-type damage were similar between subjects with and without diabetes.

Understanding the results of this study may contribute toward decreasing the effects of diabetes on the brain. Since cerebral infarctions primarily affect muscular coordination, and Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease (muscular and memory) - the results of the Religious Orders Study support the hypothesis that diabetes is not linked to Alzheimer's in seniors. Should old acquaintances be forgotten, and never brought to mind? Not due to diabetes. Happy New Year!