BackgroundThe relationship between diabetes and academic performance have been of great interest to researchers during the year to date. Many studies have been conducted to discover this relationship during three recent decades. But, evaluation of the structural changes of brain in the context of diabetes is of paramount importance especially in children and adolescents.MethodsThis study is a systematic review conducted to investigate the structural changes in the central nervous system in children and adolescents living with diabetes. Among about 500 papers published in this area in Pubmed and SCOPUS, 13 articles in the field of assessing structural changes in the central nervous system in children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus were entered into the evaluation process.ResultsAs can be seen in these studies, a huge proportion of structures of the central nervous system have been affected by diabetes that include different areas of gray and white matters. In the majority of these studies, it has become clear that high glycemic changes, especially recurrent hyperglycemic attacks are very seriously associated with structural changes in the brain.ConclusionIt seems the findings of this review can positively aid other researchers to develop medical guidelines to prevent or resolve the brain changes in central nervous structure and consequently cognitive impairments in children and adolescents.
BackgroundObesity is one of the most challenging problems of public health in the present century and can have some serious impacts on cognitive abilities in children and adolescents. This study has tried to investigate the relationship between obesity and executive functioning, particularly in planning- organizing and problem solving among a group of adolescents.MethodsSome 120 male high school students in the 15 to 18 year age range were included. BMI and executive functions were measured with validetes tools and tests in cases.ResultsThere is a significant difference between the executive functions such as planning-organizing and problem solving in obese, overweight and normal students.ConclusionsAccording to our results it seems the obese adolescents have poorer executive functions than normal weight peers. This is important for families and school staff to design and follow some therapeutic plans for weight reduction in adolescents in order to help them improve their skills in some functions such as planning-organizing and problem solving.
IntroductionDiabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM) affects nearly 15 million children worldwide and failure to achieve and maintain good glycaemic control in this group can lead to diabetes-related complications. Children with T1DM can experience impairment in cognitive function such as memory, attention and executive function. This study is designed to evaluate the correlation between diabetes and cognitive dysfunction as well as to clarify whether this correlation can be linked to neurological structural changes in 6–11-year-old children with diabetes.Methods and analysis310 eligible children with diabetes will be divided into two groups based on glycaemic control according to their HbA1c index. The control group will include 150 children aged 6–11 without diabetes. The following parameters will be measured and investigated: duration of the disease since diagnosis, required daily insulin dose, frequency of insulin administration, hospital admissions due to diabetes, hypoglycaemic episodes during the last year, and episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis. The following components of cognitive function will be evaluated: memory, attention, executive function, decision-making and academic performance. Cognitive function and subsequent subtests will be assessed using Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) tools. Brain structural indices such as intracranial vault (ICV), as well as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), ventricle, hippocampus, total intracranial, total brain, grey matter and white matter volume will be measured using MRI. ANOVA, correlational tests (Spearman) and regression models will be used to evaluate the hypothesis.Ethics and disseminationThis study is approved by the ethics committee of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute (EMRI) of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) under reference number 00300. Our findings are to be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated both electronically and in print.
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