STATINS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED DEMENTIA RISK, STUDY SAYS

A large study published in the latest issue of Archives of Neurology found no evidence that statins or other cholesterol-lowering treatments reduced the risk of developing dementia from Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia or the two conditions combined.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are widely acknowledged as being effective heart disease treatments, and researchers have theorized the drugs' anti-inflammatory abilities might also protect the brain from dementia causes such as Alzheimer's. But a large study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington suggests this might not be the case.

Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the study tapped a database of nearly 2,800 patients 65 years and older who were tested and found to have no signs of dementia before the study's start. The patient population was tracked for a six-year period, with researchers documenting which subjects took cholesterol-lowering drugs and which did not. Six different statins and three non-statins were administered during the study.

Over the course of the study, the researchers documented 480 cases of dementia, including 245 cases attributable to Alzheimer's. After controlling for other known or suspected risk factors, the researchers found that patients who had used statins had no reduction in their risk of developing dementia from any cause compared with those who had never used statins.