Statins, which lower blood cholesterol, may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in some patients. This has been shown by a study published in the journal. Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy.
Scientists analyzed data from more than 15,000 dementia patients who were also prescribed statins to lower cholesterol. Almost 11 thousand of them were using statins. The analysis found that such patients scored higher on average on cognitive tests, but were more likely to have hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which increase their risk of dementia.
The idea that statins may affect the risk or progression of dementia is not new. But previous tests did not confirm this. The authors of the new study believe this is because only certain Alzheimer’s patients can benefit from statins. Because previous clinical trials were small, they were unable to identify groups of patients with dementia who might be suitable for statin therapy. The new study was observational, so it doesn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship, but it paves the way for more definitive clinical studies.
Previous scientists named Number of steps to take daily to prevent dementia.