A complication of Type 1 diabetes called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can cause changed in children's brain matter.
These changes can lead to a decrease in memory and attention, HealthDay reported.
"Children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes with diabetic ketoacidosis have evidence of brain gray matter shrinkage and white matter swelling," lead author, Dr. Fergus Cameron, head of diabetes services at Royal Children's Hospital in Victoria, Australia, told HealthDay. "While these changes resolve within the first week, there are associated residual cognitive changes -- memory and attention -- that are present six months after diagnosis."
Diabetes 1 occurs when the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. If the condition is not treated the body starts to look for other fuel and ends up burning fat; the byproducts of this process, called ketones, can be toxic.
Between 20 and 30 percent of people newly-diagnosed with diabetes will experience ketoacidosis. To make their findings the researchers looked at 36 children and teens who had diabetic ketoacidosis and 59 who did not, all had recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
All of the participants had MRIs conducted on their brains "two days, five days, 28 days and six months after diagnosis," HealthDay reported.
The team found a reduction in gray matter and a swelling of white matter in children who experienced ketoacidosis than those who did not.
The brain changes resolved themselves quickly, but the children who had experienced them had "delayed memory recall and poorer sustained and divided attention scores for at least six months," HealthDay reported.
"Changes in memory and attention are subtle, and may or may not be noticed by a parent or teacher on a daily basis," Cameron said. "However, any decrement in attention or memory in children is a concern as children are acquiring new knowledge and learning new skills all the time."
