Drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes could lower risks of dementia and provide greater benefits from longer treatment, a study published in The British Medical Journal has suggested.
Experts said the idea of repurposing existing drugs to treat diseases that cause dementia “is one that has huge potential”.
The Korean study of 110,885 diabetics indicated that medication used to treat type 2 diabetes was linked to a 35 per cent lower risk of dementia.
The number of people with dementia globally is expected to reach 78 million by 2030 and type 2 diabetes is associated with a greater risk of developing dementia, the World Health Organisation says.
Patients in the study were either taking sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors or dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors.
The study found SGLT-2 inhibitors were linked to a 35 per cent lower risk of dementia compared with DPP-4 inhibitors.
Researchers also found a 39 per cent reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease, and a 52 per cent reduced risk for vascular dementia associated with SGLT-2 inhibitors compared with DPP-4 inhibitors.
The effect of the SGLT-2 inhibitors also seemed more pronounced with longer treatment duration, the study found.
As the study was observational, the researchers have called for controlled and randomised trials.
“This association was similarly observed for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia and was also consistent across subgroups,” researchers said.
“We observed a greater association with treatment duration longer than two years. These findings underscore the need for future randomised controlled trials.”
Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, also called for the findings to be confirmed through “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,” she said.
“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.
“More broadly, the idea of repurposing existing drugs to treat the diseases that cause dementia is one that has huge potential.”
Professor William Whiteley, associate director of the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre, warned the findings could be down to a “quirk of the study design”.
One can never be sure about the effects of a medicine by looking at health record data.
About 1.5 million deaths are attributed to diabetes each year.
The overwhelming majority of people with the condition have type 2 diabetes, the form that develops later in life and is often the result of lifestyle factors, primarily an unhealthy diet or lack of exercise.
Type 2 diabetes involves glucose levels in the blood rising dangerously high.
In the Middle East, dementia rates are expected to increase by 367 per cent, affecting 13.8 million people by 2050.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
