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Old diabetes drugs lower dementia risk by more than a FIFTH, study shows
- A class of diabetes drugs could significantly help reduce Alzheimer’s risk
- Patients taking TZDs were 20% less likely to develop dementia than others
- The effect was even more pronounced when combined with other diabetes drugs
- TZDs have fallen out of fashion due to cancer and cardiovascular disease risk
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A class of diabetes drugs that have gone out of fashion may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a large study suggests.
Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) reduced the risk of developing the disease by more than a fifth in a study of more than half a million patients.
The drugs are thought to work by reducing bad cholesterol in the blood and boosting blood flow and oxygenation to the brain.
They are sold under the brand names Actos or Avandia, but are rarely prescribed because of their association with liver toxicity and heart problems.
But researchers at the University of Arizona, who conducted the latest study, hope the drugs could breathe new life into it.
They say the drugs should be given to type 2 diabetes to prevent cognitive problems that can turn into dementia.
Previous studies have shown that people with this type of diabetes are at higher risk for the memory-depriving condition.
Too much sugar in the blood can damage organs, including the brain.
TZDs may lower the risk of dementia by more than 20 percent in type 2 diabetics taking the drug. These drugs have been largely removed from the U.S. market due to risks associated with heart failure and bladder cancer
The research team, which published its findings Tuesday in the BMJ, collected data from 560,000 type 2 diabetes from 2000 to 2019.
Each of the participants was over the age of 60 and had received either a TZD or other popular type 2 diabetes medications such as metformin or sulfonylurea.
These drugs are usually taken once a day, but in some cases a patient may take up to three doses a day.
Participants had their health tracked for an average of eight years each using Veterans Affairs medical records.
Those who took only a TZD had a 22 percent lower risk of developing all-cause dementia than those who took metformin within the first year.
There was also an 11 percent drop in the risk of dementia in particular, and a 57 percent drop in cases of vascular dementia — caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.
The drugs were even more effective at preventing cognitive problems when taken along with metformin — the risk dropped an additional 11 percent.
The research could bring a second life to a class of drugs that has largely been discarded.
Also known as glitazones, TZDs help fight type 2 diabetes by reducing the blood’s resistance to insulin.
They work by binding to a cell’s protein and activating genes that help increase the blood’s sensitivity to the hormone.
Avandia, one of the most popular TZDs, was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2010 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attack.
Its main competitor Actos has also been linked to heart problems, along with bladder cancer and liver toxicity.
Although Actos is still available in the US, it is rarely prescribed anymore as newer, safer diabetes medications have taken their place on the market since then.
The drugs have also been linked to bone mass loss and unusual weight gain in users.
The development of type 2 diabetes has long been associated with the risk of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease has even been described by some as “type 3 diabetes” because of the similarities in how they affect the body at a cellular level.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that about ten percent of American adults have diabetes.