Diabetes already causes a number of health concerns, including heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and foot problems. Adding to these woes is a recent study which claims that those living with diabetes and poor blood sugar may find themselves at risk for declining memory and thinking ability. Medical professionals feel this theory holds particularly true with older people.

The information comes from a study which followed approximately 3,000 elderly individuals without dementia for ten years. Of these people, 23 percent were living with diabetes at the time, though 159 eventually developed the disease during this period. At the beginning of the study, those with diabetes scored lowered on thinking skill tests than those who didn’t have the disease. The real problem arose during the follow-up exam, which indicated a significant decline in memory with those living with poor blood sugar.

According to researchers, more studies will be need to be done in order to determine if early diagnosis and detection can help prevent or reduce the risk of decreased mental capacity stemming from diabetes. Furthermore, scientists are curious to know if controlling good blood sugar can help fight these effects early on.

It’s worth noting, however, that while researchers have found a connection between diabetes and memory problems, a direct cause-and-effect relationship was not determined. The study was published in its entirety in the journal “Archives of Neurology”.