Statins Do Not Reduce Risk of Dementia

Main Category: Statins
Article Date: 19 Jul 2005 - 12:00 PST

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Statins, those medications that can be life savers for people who need to reduce blood cholesterol, are not associated with a reduction in the risk of dementia. According to a paper published in the July edition of the Archives of Neurology, and embargoed until 1 pm PDT Monday, July 11, the hypothesis had been that statins would reduce the risk of dementia potentially through mechanisms that provide protection against heart disease.

The cohort study by Dr. Thomas D. Rea, assistant professor of general internal medicine in the University of Washington School of Medicine, and colleagues included 2,798 participants 65 years old and older and free of dementia at the time the study began.

Rea said this morning, "Two other recent prospective studies also found the same relationship - that there is no protective association between statin use and the risk of subsequently developing dementia. Both of these studies have UW connections as well. The first was conducted by Gail Li and Eric Larson. The second was conducted by Peter Zandi (of John Hopkins) and John Breitner of the UW. Taken together, the trio of studies does give caution to the potential therapeutic role of statins in dementia and indicates a need for ongoing research."

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