Research results indicate that key ingredients in obesity and diabetes treatments can reduce the risk of dementia, a degenerative brain disease. Although the exact mechanism of action has not been revealed, it is presumed that the two ingredients help protect and regenerate nerves in diabetes patients, thereby inhibiting dementia.
A research team led by Dr. Jingchuan Guo at the University of Florida noted that “semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) reduce the risk of dementia by 33 to 43%,” as published on the 8th (local time) in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology.
The research team analyzed the medical records of over 390,000 patients aged 50 and older diagnosed with diabetes from January 2014 to June 2023. They tracked whether there were changes in the risk of dementia when patients used semaglutide, SGLT2i, and other hypoglycemic agents for diabetes treatment.
Semaglutide is an ingredient in diabetes and obesity treatments developed by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. GLP-1 is a hormone secreted from the intestine after eating, which promotes the release of insulin that lowers blood sugar. Simultaneously, it slows digestion, helping individuals feel full longer with smaller meals.
Novo Nordisk developed semaglutide, which mimics GLP-1, into the diabetes treatment Ozempic, later confirming its weight loss effects and advancing it to the obesity treatment Wegovy. An analysis of medical records from diabetes patients showed that the group using therapies containing semaglutide had a 34% lower incidence of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, compared to the group using hypoglycemic agents.
The group using SGLT2i had a 42% lower incidence than the group using hypoglycemic agents. While conventional hypoglycemic agents are administered via insulin injections to control blood sugar, the oral diabetes medication SGLT2i reduces blood sugar by blocking the reabsorption of glucose in the kidneys. The research team stated there were no significant differences in dementia risk between the groups using semaglutide and SGLT2i.
The specific pathways through which semaglutide and SGLT2i ingredients reduce the risk of dementia have not been clearly established. The research team noted, “Since dementia is a disease that progresses over a long period, further studies with much longer follow-up periods are necessary.” However, they explained that semaglutide promotes neurogenesis while reducing inflammation. It is also speculated that SGLT2i improves cerebral blood flow and enhances mitochondrial function, the organelle that generates energy in cells, thus protecting nerves.
Dr. Leah Musalyn of the Alzheimer's Research Institute in the UK commented on the findings, saying, “Diabetes patients who take medication to lower blood sugar levels can reduce their risk of developing dementia,” and emphasized that more research is needed to understand how these drugs affect the brain.
Reference materials
JAMA Neurology·(2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.0353