By Ashleigh Furlong
Certain types of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes may help prevent some cases of dementia, according to new research that builds on previous evidence suggesting these medications could be useful in countering debilitating diseases associated with memory and cognitive loss.
Scientists found that the risk of dementia associated with a class of drugs that includes AstraZeneca Plc’s Forxiga and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Jardiance, which are called sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors, was reduced by 35 percent. They were compared with so-called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, a category that includes Novartis’ Galvus and Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana.
The study, which used data from South Korea’s national health insurance database, was published in the British Medical Journal. It found that along with a possible reduced risk of dementia associated with SGLT2 inhibitors, there was also a 39 percent reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a 52 percent reduction in the risk of vascular dementia.
Because the study was purely observational, it cannot determine a cause-effect relationship between the drug and its impact on dementia risk. Scientists have called for clinical trials to be conducted to test this theory.
Other studies have also shown that SGLT2 inhibitors appear to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia.
“The mechanism by which these effects occur is unknown, but they are likely related to inflammation in the brain, which reduces the risk of stroke, or modulation of glucose metabolism in the brain,” said Ivan Koychev, a senior clinical researcher at Dementia Platform UK, based at the University of Oxford. Repurposing existing drugs for new indications also “greatly reduces the risk of the drug failing due to safety issues,” Koychev said.
First published: August 29, 2024 | 8:58 am IS
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