High doses of statins prevent dementia in older people, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Dr Tin-Tse Lin from Taiwan.
The study of nearly 58,000 patients found that high potency statins had the strongest protective effects against dementia.
Dr Lin said: “Statins are widely used in the older population to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But recent reports of statin-associated cognitive impairment have led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to list statin-induced cognitive changes, especially for the older population, in its safety communications.”
He added: “Previous studies had considered statin therapy to exert a beneficial effect on dementia. But few large-scale studies have focused on the impact of statins on new-onset, non-vascular dementia in the geriatric population.”
Accordingly, the current study examined whether statin use was associated with new diagnoses of dementia. The researchers used a random sample of 1 million patients covered by Taiwan’s National Health Insurance. From this they identified 57,669 patients aged >65 years who had no history of dementia in 1997 and 1998. The analysis included pre-senile and senile dementia but excluded vascular dementia.
There were 5,516 new diagnoses of dementia during approximately 4.5 years of follow-up. The remaining 52,153 patients aged >65 formed the control group. Subjects were divided into tertiles according to their mean daily equivalent1 dosage and total (across the entire follow up period) equivalent dosage.
The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia were significantly inversely associated with increased daily or total equivalent statin dosage. The HRs for the three tertiles of mean equivalent daily dosage (lowest to highest) were 0.622, 0.697 and 0.419 vs control (p<0.001 for trend). The HRs for the three tertiles of total equivalent dosage (lowest to highest) were 0.773, 0.632 and 0.332 vs control (p<0.001 for trend). The protective effect of statins remained in different age, gender and cardiovascular risk subgroups.
Dr Lin said: “The adjusted risks for dementia were significantly inversely associated with increased total or daily equivalent statin dosage. Patients who received the highest total equivalent doses of statins had a 3-fold decrease in the risk of developing dementia. Similar results were found with the daily equivalent statin dosage.”
He added: “It was the potency of the statins rather than their solubility (lipophilic or hydrophilic) which was a major determinant in reducing dementia. High potency statins such as atorvastatin and rosuvastatin showed a significant inverse association with developing dementia in a dose-response manner. Higher doses of high potency statins gave the strongest protective effects against dementia.”
The Latest Bing News on:
Statins prevent dementia
- Patient concerned that statins increase the risk of dementiaon May 3, 2024 at 6:22 pm
I have heard there is some evidence that statins can adversely affect dementia. What are your thoughts? -- K.S.C. ANSWER: Vasospastic angina, also called variant angina, is a cause of chest pain in ...
- Your Guide to Injectable Alternatives to Statinson April 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Statins are typically the first line of treatment used for treating high cholesterol. However, in recent years, injectable alternatives such as PCSK9 Inhibitors have been introduced to help reduce ...
- Cholesterol and the risk of dementiaon April 26, 2024 at 10:56 am
Statins are drugs that are used to reduce the levels of cholesterol in the blood. The relationship between statins and dementia is complex. In the past, there have been concerns that short-term use of ...
- Do Statins Reduce Risk for Dementia?on April 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The findings from these prospective studies cast some doubt on the idea that statins prevent dementia. Supporting these results are two large randomized trials (lasting 5 and 3 years) in which ...
- How to prevent dementia: does this Amazonian tribe hold the key? It has an 80% lower incidence than in the Weston April 15, 2024 at 12:14 pm
Atherosclerosis causes the hardening of the arteries that plagues Western communities and keeps them popping statins to control ... health that can delay dementia, or prevent it But the case ...
- Need a Statin for Primary Prevention? There’s an App for Thaton April 9, 2024 at 5:00 pm
“It would allow them to take a statin when they should.” I am terribly troubled that we have a life-saving class of drugs that isn’t being used by half the [primary-prevention] population. Steve ...
- Statins could lower mortality in older patients with dementiaon March 21, 2024 at 2:07 pm
Statins could lower mortality in older people with dementia, research found. The study, published in Neurology, found statin drugs are associated with improved mortality in older nursing home ...
- Statin consumption continues to remain low among at-risk patients; Here’s whyon December 15, 2023 at 3:18 am
Additionally, investigations into potential applications for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s ... University of Pittsburgh has also revealed that overall statin use for primary ...
- The Verdict on Statins and Dementia Prevention?on February 24, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape. If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit. Log out ...
- Cholesterol drugs may slash risk of developing Alzheimer'son July 28, 2008 at 6:00 pm
How much is a treatment really going to help? This showed if you started using statins before the dementia developed you could prevent it in about half of the cases." She said it was likely that ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Statins prevent dementia
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Statins prevent dementia” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Dementia
- Trip down Memory Lane for dementia awarenesson May 13, 2024 at 8:46 am
Artwork has gone up on a Jersey street to raise awareness about dementia. Broad Street in St Helier has been temporarily renamed as Memory Lane and 30m (98ft) of hoarding has been put up. It has advice on how you can reduce your risk of developing dementia and keeping your brain healthy.
- Exercise and keeping active 'may be better at preventing dementia than sleep'on May 13, 2024 at 5:29 am
For a long time it has been thought the brain uses sleep to get rid of damaging molecules, but early research on mice now suggests the opposite may be true and exercise is more beneficial
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Dementia
[google_news title=”” keyword=”dementia” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]