Independent and combined associations of diabetes and thyroid disorders with risks of incident dementia.

Cohort studyFrontiers in endocrinology· 2026

Independent and combined associations of diabetes and thyroid disorders with risks of incident dementia.

Jing Guo, Jiayu Li, Bin Gao … Yingying Mao

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Cognitive & DementiaCohort studyPrognosisQ1IF 5.2

Combined diabetes and thyroid disorders linked to over double the dementia risk

Independent and combined associations of diabetes and thyroid disorders with risks of incident dementia.

Jing Guo … Yingying Mao

Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026

Background

Diabetes and thyroid disorders are modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment.

Methods

Based on the data from UK Biobank study, patients with different types of diabetes and thyroid disorders were identified with the hospital inpatient record.

n = 284,081 participants

Results

diabetes plus thyroid disease more than doubles dementia risk

HR 2.16 (95% CI 1.84 to 2.53)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Four types of diabetes and two types of thyroid disorders were significantly associated with increased risks of dementia.

Combined associations of hypothyroid and diabetes and of hyperthyroid and diabetes were also significantly positive (all P values < 0.05).

More results

Moreover, cumulative years of diabetes and thyroid were related to higher risks of dementia.

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Conclusion

Diabetes, thyroid disorders, and their combinations were associated with increased risks of dementia in adults aged 55 years and older.

Independent and combined associations of diabetes and thyroid disorders with risks of incident dementia.

Independent and combined associations of diabetes and thyroid disorders with risks of incident dementia.

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