image: (A) HRs for ACD based on combinations of age at diabetes diagnosis and GRS categories. Participants with low GRS and diabetes diagnosed after age 60 served as the reference. (B) Association between age at diagnosis and ACD risk within each GRS subgroup. All models were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, TDI, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, stroke, MI, and hypertension.
Credit: ©Science China Press
A new study published in Medicine Plus reveals that the age at which a person is diagnosed with diabetes significantly influences their risk of developing dementia later in life. Researchers analyzed data from 13,126 participants in the UK Biobank, a large population-based cohort, and found that those diagnosed with diabetes after age 50 had a lower risk of all-cause dementia compared to those diagnosed before age 50.
The study further showed that this protective effect was especially pronounced among individuals with a high genetic predisposition to dementia or those carrying the APOE ε4 allele—a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. For example, among APOE ε4 carriers, a diabetes diagnosis after age 60 was associated with a 57% lower risk of all-cause dementia compared to diagnosis before age 50.
“Our findings suggest that delaying the diabetes prevention may help reduce dementia risk, particularly in people who are genetically vulnerable,” said Prof. Jun Xu, one of the corresponding authors of the study. “This underscores the value of early diabetes screening and lifestyle interventions in high-risk populations.”
The research team used Cox proportional hazards models to analyze the association between age at diabetes diagnosis and dementia risk, adjusting for factors such as age, sex, body mass index, smoking, and cardiovascular health. The median follow-up time was 13.4 years.
The study also examined vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease separately, finding similar trends. These results provide new insights into how modifiable health factors like diabetes interact with genetic risk to shape long-term brain health.
This study was conducted by researchers from The Second People’s Hospital of Guiyang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, and other institutions.