A large observational study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress found that people with type 2 diabetes who started taking statins soon after diagnosis had a lower relative risk of developing dementia over the following decade. This matters because statins are already widely recommended for cardiovascular protection in diabetes patients, and the findings suggest that earlier prescription could also carry a brain-health benefit, potentially informing how quickly doctors initiate treatment after diagnosis.

Researchers tracked 132,585 people in Denmark diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2006 and 2019, none of whom had previously taken statins or had dementia, over a median follow-up of 7.1 years. Those who began statins within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of dementia compared with those who had not started the drug within five years, while starting between one and five years after diagnosis was linked to a 10% lower risk; the benefit was mainly driven by reduced vascular dementia rather than Alzheimer's disease. Experts noted the study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, is observational and cannot prove statins directly prevent dementia, and stressed the drug should complement other measures such as exercise, diet and social engagement.