A diabetes drug might lower dementia risk, new study suggests
A medication used to manage type 2 diabetes could lower your risk of dementia, according to a new study.
The research, which analysed data from over 200,00 people, found that rates of Alzheimer's disease were 35% lower in those who took sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors versus those on alternative diabetes medication. Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for going on to develop dementia.
The study, which was conducted by academics in South Korea and and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), is observational. This means it does not show a casual link between the medication and a decreased risk of the disease.
As such, experts have called the finding 'promising' while stating that further research is needed in this area. The study's authors noted the limitations of the work, but said that there is 'potential' in repurposing existing drugs to lower the global risk of dementia
There's urgent need for fresh solutions to lower cases of the condition. Globally, the number of people forecast to deal with dementia is expected to hit 153 million – three times current volumes – by 2050.
What did the experts say?
Of the study, Professor Tara Spires-Jones, Deputy Director, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences and Group Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, said:
'This paper by Shin and colleagues represents a well-conducted study looking at data from over 200,000 people. The scientists observed that a Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor drug used to treat diabetes is associated with lower risk of developing dementia. Further research using controlled trials is needed to confirm these results.'
'This study adds to substantial data from around the world linking diabetes to dementia risk and to a growing body of evidence suggesting that treating conditions like diabetes can lower the risk of developing dementia. Future research is needed to understand how these treatments protect the brain from developing diseases that cause dementia.'
Dr Jacqui Hanley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: 'This large study followed people with diabetes who were already taking two different diabetes drugs called sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT-2) inhibitors and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, to see if there were differences in whether they went on to be diagnosed with dementia.
'Its key finding that one of these drugs, SGLT-2 inhibitors, appears to be linked to a lower dementia risk, is promising and now needs to be confirmed in robust clinical trials. It will also be important to investigate the mechanisms behind this apparent effect, as this could give researchers clues for other treatment approaches.'
'It is encouraging to see large studies exploring whether drugs that have already been licensed could be repurposed as dementia treatments. Since these drugs have already been shown to be safe for use in people, this could potentially speed up the process of testing them in clinical trials against dementia, as well as making it significantly cheaper.'
But William Whiteley, Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said:
'People with diabetes have a higher risk of dementia, so finding medicines to reduce this risk is important. Unfortunately, one can never be sure about the effects of a medicine by looking at health record data.'
'If this study were true, then SGLT-2 inhibitors would almost halve the risk of some types of dementia, which is a much larger than the effect of medicines to reduce dementia progression, or medicines to prevent heart attack and stroke. Instead, a quirk of the study design has probably given this result.'
'There are ongoing randomised trials of some diabetes medicines for dementia progression. The results of these trials will give more reliable answers.'
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