There is no link between statin
use and memory impairment, researchers have concluded, after evaluating effects
of the cholesterol-lowering drugs over 6 years in more than 1,000 older people
in Australia.
A team from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the
University of New South Wales (UNSW), both in Sydney, Australia, led the study.
"Over 6 years, there was no difference in the rate of
decline in memory or global cognition between statin users and never
users," they write in a recent Journal of
the American College of Cardiology paper on the findings.
In fact, for certain individuals, statins may even offer some
protection against memory decline, they suggest.
The results show that, among participants with risk factors
for dementia, those who used statins had a slower rate of decline
in memory and thinking skills than those who did not use the drugs.
The researchers hope that the
findings will help to allay fears among consumers who have become concerned
following reports of isolated cases of statin users experiencing cognitive
decline.
"Many factors can contribute to the cognitive symptoms
that isolated case reports describe," says first study author Katherine
Samaras, who is a professor at the Garvan Institute and head of its Clinical
Obesity, Nutrition, and Adipose Biology Lab.
Results are 'reassuring'
Dr. Perminder Sachdev, a professor of neuropsychiatry at UNSW
and co-director of its Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, is the study's senior
author.
He says, "In this study, our data reassuringly suggests
that the use of statins to lower cholesterol levels
is not likely to adversely affect memory function."
Dr. Sachdev cautions, however, that because the study was
observational and not a clinical trial, the findings are not conclusive.
"However," he adds,
"the evidence is mounting that statins are safe in relation to brain
health, and this concern should not preclude their use in individuals who are
likely to benefit from lower cholesterol levels."
Statins are among the more widely prescribed drugs. Since the
1990s, doctors have been prescribing them for people with heart disease or high cholesterol in order to reduce the
risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
Prof. Samaras says that up to half of people do not fill
their statin prescription, mainly because they are concerned about reports of
individuals experiencing cognitive decline from statin use.
"We carried out the most comprehensive analysis of
cognition in elderly statin users to date, and found no results to support that
cholesterol-lowering statins cause memory impairment," she notes.
No link to faster decline in memory, cognition
For the new study, the team used data from the prospective,
observational Sydney Memory and
Ageing Study.
The study participants were 1,037 people living in Sydney.
Data collection began in 2005, when they were free of dementia and between 70
and 90 years old.
Over 6 years, the participants took 13 different tests to
assess five areas of memory and cognition. They also underwent MRI
scans to assess changes to their brains.
After adjusting the results to control for potential
influencers, such as sex, age, and weight, the researchers found no difference
in the rate of change in memory and other features of cognition between those
who used statins and those who did not.
"There was also no difference
in the change in brain volumes between the two groups," observes Prof.
Samaras, who is also an endocrinologist at St Vincent's Hospital, in Sydney.
In addition, she and colleagues saw a slowing of cognitive
decline among statin users with heart disease, diabetes, or other risk factors for
dementia, compared with participants who had never used this type of drug.
"Our findings," she adds, "demonstrate how
crucial a healthy metabolism is to brain function and how therapies can
modulate this to promote healthy aging."
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