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Home › Research › What the research found › Every row

Every row of the evidence table

One row per finding: what was tested, which way the result went, and how the study was built. The answer by area, and where the studies disagree, are on the main page.

Every row

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Area All 382 Care, carers and services 140 Medicines 85 Genes (not modifiable) 35 All modifiable factors together 27 Diet and supplements 23 Exercise and activity 21 Sleep, mood and social life 19 Hearing and vision 8 Alcohol, tobacco and cannabis 6 Infection and vaccination 5 Heart and metabolic health 4 Injury, delirium and falls 4 Environment 3 Cognitive activity 2
Question Both Prevention 190 Treatment 192
Direction Any Benefit 144 Harm 105 No effect 38 Mixed 37 No direction reported 58
Design Any meta-analysis 57 randomised trial 44 phase 3 trial 15 systematic review 9 phase 2 trial 10 cohort study 136 phase 1 trial 2 cross-sectional study 31 case-control study 14 modelling study 20 regulatory decision 7 company announcement 1 coverage determination 1 None 35
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Showing 9 of 382 rows. One row per study per exposure: a study that tested two different things appears twice, once for each.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Research and outcomes, 9 rows. Every row links to its source.
Exposure Question Direction Outcome measured Design People Effect size, as the source reported it Source
Antipsychotics (harms / discontinuation) Medicines Treatment Benefit
why

Direction is for STOPPING the antipsychotic: discontinuers were hospitalised less than matched continuers.

 Hospitalisation, pneumonia and urinary tract infection cohort study 4,222 All-cause hospitalisation HR 0.83 (95% CI 0.72-0.96); pneumonia hospitalisation HR 0.51 (0.29-0.90) Alzheimer's Research & Therapy 2026
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 42410659
Antipsychotics (harms / discontinuation) Medicines Treatment Benefit
why

Direction is for discontinuation: tapering after 12 weeks lowered the 24-month absolute risk of delirium and fracture versus continuing, with no difference in stroke, pneumonia or death. Results were similar for abrupt discontinuation and after 24 weeks.

 24-month risk of delirium, fracture, stroke, pneumonia and death after tapering or stopping antipsychotics versus continuing cohort study 24,822 Compared with continuation after 12 weeks of treatment, estimated risks of delirium and fracture under the tapering strategy corresponded to 24-month ARDs of -2·46% (95% CI -4·10 to -1·27) and -2·80% (-4·14 to -1·29), respectively. Estimated risks for stroke, pneumonia, and all-cause mortality were similar between strategies The lancet. Healthy longevity 2026
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 42302797
Cholinesterase inhibitor / memantine Medicines Treatment Benefit
why

Observational: 80% of residents were on no anti-dementia drug, so who gets prescribed and who does not may itself track prognosis.

 All-cause mortality cohort study 25,358 Adjusted hazard ratios for mortality vs no anti-dementia drug: "HR: 0.826, 95%CI 0.769 to 0.888 for AChEI; 0.857, 95%CI 0.795 to 0.923 for memantine; 0.742, 95%CI 0.640 to 0.861 for AChEI plus memantine" Alzheimer's Research & Therapy 2024
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 38812028
Cholinesterase inhibitor / memantine Medicines Treatment Benefit
why

Cholinesterase inhibitors, not memantine: -0.39 MMSE points a year against -2.50 with no treatment. The mortality benefit held only in the first year. Registry data with weighting, not a trial.

 MMSE decline per year; mortality cohort study 1,095 MMSE change: -0.39 points/year (95% CI -0.96 to 0.18) with cholinesterase inhibitors vs -2.49 (-4.02 to -0.97) with memantine and -2.50 (-4.28 to -0.73) with non-use. Mortality in the first year after diagnosis: adjusted HR 0.66 (95% CI 0.46 to 0.94) Alzheimer's & Dementia 2024
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 39177108
GLP-1 receptor agonist Medicines Prevention Benefit
why

Seven separate comparisons against seven other antidiabetic drugs, so the comparator is always another drug rather than no treatment.

 First-time Alzheimer's diagnosis over 3 years cohort study 1,094,761 HR 0.33 (95% CI 0.21-0.51) vs. insulin; HR 0.59 (95% CI 0.37-0.95) vs. other GLP-1 agonists Alzheimer's & Dementia 2024
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 39445596
Metformin / antidiabetic Medicines Prevention Benefit
why

Comparator is other oral antidiabetic drugs, not no treatment.

 All-cause dementia and Parkinson's disease cohort study 358,862 All-cause dementia aHR 0.79 (95% CI 0.69-0.90) for SGLT2 inhibitor vs other oral antidiabetic drugs Neurology 2024
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 39292986
Metformin / antidiabetic Medicines Prevention Benefit
why

The exposure actually studied is STOPPING metformin early, which carried 21% higher dementia incidence than staying on it. Read as indirect support for metformin, not as a trial of it.

 Incident dementia cohort study 41,346 HR 1.21 (95% CI 1.12-1.30) for dementia after early metformin termination JAMA Network Open 2023
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 37878309
SGLT2 inhibitor Medicines Prevention Benefit
why

For SGLT2 inhibitors specifically: HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.79-0.94) against DPP4 inhibitors, and HR 0.70 in the as-treated analysis.

 Incident dementia cohort study not stated SGLT2i vs DPP4i HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.79-0.94); GLP1-RA vs DPP4i HR 0.95 (0.87-1.04) Alzheimer's Research & Therapy 2025
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 41420258
Statins / lipid-lowering Medicines Prevention Benefit
why

Benefit was confined to APOE4 carriers (HR 0.60) and absent in non-carriers (HR 0.96). Observational, and it disagrees with the larger target-trial emulation that found nothing.

 Incident clinical Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline cohort study 4,807 Alzheimer's HR 0.81 (95% CI 0.70-0.94) overall; 0.60 (0.49-0.74) in APOE ε4 carriers; 0.96 (0.82-1.12) in non-carriers Neurology 2024
✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 38447103

How this table was built, and where it is weak →