VIENNA – Statin treatment may reduce the risk of later dementia by more than 50%, a national Finnish study has determined.
“Disturbances in cholesterol metabolism have previously been linked to dementia development,” Dr. Alina Solomon wrote in a poster presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. However, she noted not all studies have concluded that statins confer a protective effect against dementia onset.
Dr. Solomon, of the University of Kuopio, Finland, and her colleagues examined this question using data from the national FINRISK study, a large, population-based survey of cardiovascular risk factors in Finnish citizens. The survey began in 1972 and is conducted every 5 years. The substudy of FINRISK included data on 17,257 citizens who were included in the 1997 and 2002 cohorts and who were at least 60 years old in 1995, when statins became available in Finland.
By the study's end at 2007, 1,551 subjects had developed dementia and 15,706 had not. Of those who developed dementia, 18% had taken at least 1 year of statin therapy, while 37% of those without dementia had taken a statin–a significant difference.
No significant associations were found between dementia and the use of other cholesterol-lowering medications, Dr. Solomon said, suggesting that “the effect of statins in dementia is partly independent of their cholesterol-lowering effect.”
Those who developed dementia also had significantly higher baseline total cholesterol and baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure. But a multivariate regression model controlling for age, gender, education, weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure still found that statins conferred a 57% risk reduction for dementia over the study period.
The finding does not prove that statins prevent dementia, but it does suggest further studies should explore the idea, focusing on statin types, dosages, and duration of treatment, Dr. Solomon said at the meeting, which was sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association. None of the researchers had any potential conflicts to declare.