Statins For The Prevention Of Dementia

Main Category: Statins
Also Included In: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 16 Apr 2009 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2001. At that stage there was insufficient evidence to recommend statins for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The scope of this review has been expanded to include all forms of dementia.

Extract from Implications for Practice

There is good evidence that statins given in late life to individuals at risk of vascular disease have no effect in preventing Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Inclusion of statins for this indication on national or local formularies is not currently warranted. For patients with an elevated cholesterol level, the decision to treat is made much easier because statins reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease. The challenge comes from patients with normal cholesterol. From the identified studies there is no convincing evidence to support their use for dementia prevention in populations at low vascular risk.

(CD003160) by McGuinness et al

The Cochrane Library contains high quality health care information, including Systematic Reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These Reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration is a UK registered international charity and the world's leading producer of systematic Reviews. It has been demonstrated that Cochrane Systematic Reviews are of comparable or better quality and are updated more often than the Reviews published in print journals.

The Cochrane Library can be accessed at http://www.thecochranelibrary.com. Guest users may access abstracts for all Reviews in the database, and members of the media may request full access to the contents of the Library.

Source
The Cochrane Library