Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors — a class of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes — could also prevent dementia, according to a study published Wednesday in The BMJ.
The authors called for randomized controlled trials to confirm findings from their observational study.
People with type 2 diabetes have a greater risk of developing dementia, previous research has found.
In earlier studies, people over the age of 65 who had type 2 diabetes and took SGLT-2 inhibitors had a lower risk of dementia compared with those who took dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, another type of diabetes drug.
In the current study, investigators evaluated 110,885 pairs of adults with type 2 diabetes between the ages of 40 and 69 who were registered in the Korea National Health Insurance Service Database. None of them had dementia at the start of the study. Participants were matched by age, sex, baseline cardiovascular risk, and use of the diabetes drug metformin. Their average age was 62.
Participants started taking either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a DPP-4 inhibitor between 2013 and 2021. Researchers followed up on the people for an average of 670 days. During that time, over 1,100 participants were diagnosed with dementia.
There was a 35% reduced risk of dementia associated with use of SGLT-2 inhibitors compared with DPP-4 inhibitors. The research team also reported a 39% lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease and a 52% lower risk for vascular dementia among the people who took SGLT-2 inhibitors compared with those who took DPP-4 inhibitors.
Taking SGLT-2 inhibitors for longer periods of time seemed to be even better. Data showed a 48% reduced risk of dementia among people who received more than two years of treatment versus a 43% reduced risk among those who took the drug for two years or less.
The authors noted that details on health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as how long a person had diabetes, weren’t available.
