We're about to embark on a journey down a labyrinth, one where your blood sugar decides to partake in an impromptu rodeo and your brain’s left to handle the fallout. It’s no secret that if you’re living with diabetes, your blood sugar levels decide to throw all kinds of shindigs, which over time, can rinse your brain's health down the drain.

The sugar-laden monster, hyperglycemia, can play mind games. Short term, it'll usher in good ol’ lethargy, a cocktail of focus troubles and a mental status reminiscent of Stranger Things’ Upside Down, colloquially known as "brain fog." Once it digs in its claws, it could cradle you lovingly into the arms of cognitive decline.

Cracking the code of the brain's glucose affair is a tad tough. But here’s a crash course. Your brain's a pretty greedy bloke, always needing heaps of glucose to perform. Shake hands with diabetes, and you've got yourself a villainous pair ready to wreak havoc on that organ upstairs which generates all your sass.

To put it bluntly, if blood sugar fluctuations were a song, they're Bohemian Rhapsody. Now, this isn't to discredit the beauty of the Queen masterpiece, but when it comes to your organ health, you'd want something a little less volatile. Both too low and too high blood glucose can plant a proverbial grenade in your body, the blast echoing in your brain.

Hyperglycemia follows the Mean Girls mantra of being a ‘plastic’. Bloated sugar levels in your blood can fog your mind like it’s a day in ol’ London town. Symptoms? Imagine forgetting where you left your thoughts, struggling to wordify your sentences (like now), failing to focus on the veritable mundane, and feeling akin to your brain running an Ironman sans training.

The nefarious siblings of hyperglycemia, Diabetic Ketoacidosis and the tongue twister Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Syndrome (HHNS), can cause conditions from ‘only in a Harry Potter book’-levels of brain swelling (DKA) to a visionary stage play including fatigue, focus troubles, and even delirium (HHNS).

Diabetes synonymous with extended periods of blood sugar highs also hitches a ride towards cognitive problems, giving life to Mr. Hyde’s pseudonyms like oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance. All diabetes types, be it 1, 2, or pre, can invite cognitive dysfunction to the party, and with it, could unfold accelerated brain aging, mental decline, and memory woes.

Diabetes and dementia, a tale as old as time. Type 2 diabetes, the cunning villain it is, befriends your brain to mess with your body's glucose flow. It's even known to hang out with geeky disorder pals like Alzheimer's and cerebrovascular disease.

The good news? We're handing you the keys to your cognitive kingdom. Want to play gatekeeper against diabetes’ devious plans? Try regular bouts of aerobic and resistance training, a diet strong in ‘good guy’ nutrients, social activity that doesn’t involve tumbling down the digital rabbit hole, coupled with regular doctor visits and meds to wrestle blood sugar to the ground.

What we're left with then is a simple principle. Sugar's sweet, but too much of it can turn bitter. It’s on you to strike gold in this balancing act – keeping your sugar steady, your mind sharp, and ensuring diabetes never gets the upper hand.