Dr Joshua A Sonnen from the University of Washington, along with his research team, studied approximately 196 people involved in a community-based investigation of dementia. After the participants passed on, their brains where autopsied and organised into various groups.
Among the 71 brains in the study with dementia, those without diabetes had larger amounts of beta-amyloid buildup.
Those that did have diabetes were found to have more microscopic injuries to small blood vessels in the brain known as arterioles, which researchers related to diabetes treatment.
The discovery led the authors to conclude it may spark another clue into the ongoing search for a cause of certain types of dementia, as well as potentially open doors to new treatments.
"It suggests that there may be two pathways contributing to the dementia. These two pathways may require different forms of treatment," said Suzanne Craft, who worked on the study, according to Reuters.
There are approximately 700,000 people diagnosed with dementia in the UK.
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