People with type 2 diabetes who use drugs known as glitazones to control their blood sugar levels may get another benefit \u2014 a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A study published October 11 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care<\/em><\/a> examined data on about 559,000 adults age 60 and older with type 2 diabetes who used at least one of three different types of drugs to manage blood sugar: glitazones, sulfonylureas<\/a>, or metformin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After an average follow-up period of almost seven years, patients who took glitazones for at least one year were 22 percent less likely to develop any form of dementia<\/a> than people who took metformin. By contrast, sulfonylureas were associated with a 12 percent higher dementia risk<\/a> than metformin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur findings provide additional information to aid clinicians’ selection of (blood-sugar-lowering medications) for patients with mild or moderate type 2 diabetes and at high risk of dementia,\u201d the senior study author, Jin Zhou<\/a> of the University of California in Los Angeles, and her colleagues concluded in the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When researchers looked specifically at Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the most common form of dementia, they found a protective effect with glitazones. Taken alone, glitazones were associated with an 11 percent lower Alzheimer\u2019s disease risk. When used in combination with metformin, glitazones were associated with a 19 percent lower risk of Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The combination of glitazones and sulfonylureas was associated with a 15 percent lower Alzheimer\u2019s disease risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The protective effect of glitazones was most pronounced with longer-term use, among elderly patients, and among people with obesity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One limitation of the analysis is that it relied on electronic health records to identify cases of dementia, making it possible that some undiagnosed cases influenced the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another drawback is that during the study period, which spanned from 2000 to 2019, U.S. drug regulators temporarily restricted use<\/a> of one glitazone drug \u2014\u00a0Avandia<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 because of heart risks, a factor that may have influenced the underlying medical conditions of patients using different types of medications to manage their blood sugar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avandia remains on the market, along with a similar drug, rosiglitazone (Actos) for use alone or in combination with metformin or sulfonylureas to manage type 2 diabetes. Both drugs are intended to be used along with lifestyle modifications like weight loss and improved eating and exercise habits, according to StatPearls<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the current study wasn\u2019t designed to prove how glitazones might directly prevent dementia<\/a>, some previous research<\/a> suggests that people with well-controlled type 2 diabetes may be able to minimize the risk of complications like blood vessel damage that can, over time, lead to cognitive decline and dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n