THURSDAY, July 9, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors is associated with a lower risk of dementia in adults with mood and psychiatric disorders, according to a study published online June 30. JAMA Open Network.
David T. Liebers, MD, from Grossman University School of Medicine in New York and colleagues investigated whether treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors is associated with a reduction in the risk of incident dementia and other neuropsychiatric outcomes in patients with psychiatric disorders in a cohort study using a quasi-experimental design and data from the US Department of State Affairs. Participants were 65 years of age or older with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
The sample included 112,725 people (mean age, 74.1 years; 92.8% men), 6.8% of whom were exposed to an SGLT2 inhibitor. The researchers found that use of SGLT2 inhibitors was associated with a reduced likelihood of all-cause dementia treatment and psychiatric emergency department (PED) but not psychiatric hospitalization in an intention-to-treat analysis. Use of SGLT2 inhibitors was associated with lower odds of dementia and psychiatric hospitalizations but not PED visits in a per-protocol analysis.
“These findings support the hypothesis of metabolic vulnerability in psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases,” the authors wrote. “Further investigation of SGLT2 inhibitors is warranted as a potential transdiagnostic treatment option in individuals with high-risk psychiatric disorders.”
Several authors revealed links to the biopharmaceutical industry.
