Type 2 diabetes most often occurs after middle age, and we have long known that it affects the mental health of patients: patients are at greater risk of developing dementia than normal people without diabetes. However, how do anti-diabetic medications affect this risk? A new study shows that long-term treatment with diabetes drugs reduces the risk of dementia. The team obtained data from 2004 to 2010 from the German Public Health Insurance Company, which contained disease and medication information for 145,000 men and women aged 60 and older. The analysis confirmed previous findings that people with diabetes have an increased risk of developing dementia. However, the researchers also found that pioglitazone can significantly reduce this risk. It is commonly used as a short-term as well as long-term diabetes treatment drug as long as the body can still produce its own insulin. Treatment with pioglitazone brings significant additional benefits. It significantly reduces the risk of dementia, and the longer the treatment period, the lower the risk. This risk reduction is most pronounced when the drug is used for more than two years. People with diabetes on this treatment were typically less likely to develop dementia than people without diabetes. Researchers say that people with diabetes who take the drug have about a 47 percent lower risk of developing dementia than people without diabetes, which is only about half as likely.