Dementia Less Common Among People Taking Certain Diabetes Drugs
People who take certain drugs for type 2 diabetes appear to have a lower risk of dementia, according to new research published in the BMJ.
Experts said the results were promising but would need confirming in clinical trials.
Research – including the recent Lancet Commission report – has highlighted the link between diabetes and an increased risk of dementia. This has led to renewed focus on the possibility that diabetes drugs might reduce this added dementia risk.
In the new study, researchers based in Korea used the country’s National Health Insurance Service database to identify 110,885 adults who were taking one of two different drugs – sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors – to control their type 2 diabetes.
Participants were aged 40-69 years, free of dementia and had started taking an SGLT-2 inhibitor between 2013 and 2021.
A total of 1,172 participants newly diagnosed with dementia were identified during the study period.
People taking SGLT-2 inhibitors appeared to have a lower risk of developing dementia during the study period, and the effect seemed greater with longer treatment duration.
Experts cautiously welcomed the finding.
“This study adds to substantial data from around the world linking diabetes to dementia risk, suggesting that treating conditions like diabetes can lower the risk of developing dementia” said Prof Tara Spires Jones, from the UK Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the research. She added that future research was needed to understand how such treatments might protect the brain from developing diseases that cause dementia.
Roughly a third of drugs in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease are already used for other conditions. Viagra, a commonly used drug to treat erectile dysfunction has shown potential to prevent vascular dementia. And liraglutide, a drug used to help with diabetes, weight loss and reducing the risk of heart disease may also slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease.
“People affected by dementia urgently need effective treatments, as last week’s news of Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab’s rejection by NICE emphasised,” said Dr Jacqui Hanley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, which is funding several projects investigating the potential of drugs used for other diseases.
“Using drugs have already been shown to be safe for use in people could potentially speed up the process of testing them in clinical trials against dementia, as well as making it significantly cheaper,” she added.
“If we are to cure dementia, clinicians will need a toolkit of treatments which tackle different aspects of the disease and that can be used in combination. Research into repurposing drugs may help us do just that.”
