Can Statins Reduce Risk of Memory Loss?
July 28, 2008 — The same drugs that protect against heart attacks and strokes by lowering cholesterol may also protect against age-related memory loss and dementia. In a study that included about 1,700 elderly people, those who took cholesterol-lowering statin drugs were about half as likely to develop dementia over five years of follow-up as those who did not. The findings do not prove that statins protect against age-related mental decline, but they are compelling enough to justify primary prevention studies that might prove the association, researchers say. “We aren’t suggesting that people should take statins to prevent cognitive decline if they don’t need them for other reasons,” study author Mary N. Haan, DrPH, of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, tells WebMD.
