Previous research from the Lancet dementia commission<\/a> suggested addressing 14 modifiable risk factors, starting in childhood and continuing throughout life, could prevent or delay 45% of dementia cases.<\/p>\n\u201cDetecting and treating high levels of LDL-C from midlife is one such highlighted risk factor,\u201d said Dr Tummas Ternhamar, from Copenhagen University hospital, who presented the results of the new research at the conference.<\/p>\n
All those in the 15-year study had type 2 diabetes. But Ternhamar said the findings strengthened the idea that one day everyone might be offered statins as part of a package of measures \u2013 such as staying physically active and eating well \u2013 to reduce their risk of dementia.<\/p>\n
Statins, which reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood, are one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Photograph: Darren Lehane\/Alamy<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters in Munich, he said: \u201cOur study supports the idea that dementia risk is best addressed by targeting several factors at once, and that cholesterol may belong on that list.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lancet commission already takes that multicomponent view, recommending that high LDL cholesterol be detected and treated from midlife. What our findings also add is that timing matters within that \u2013 acting early looks better than acting late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the 132,585 people followed by Ternhamar and his colleagues, 2.7% went on to develop dementia.<\/p>\n
Compared with no statin initiation, early statin treatment was associated with a 15% lower relative risk of dementia over 10 years. Late statin initiation was associated with a 10% lower relative risk of dementia over 10 years.<\/p>\n
Ternhamar said experts were investigating exactly why statins might lower the risk of dementia.<\/p>\n
\u201cStatins effectively lower LDL cholesterol and protect against atherosclerosis and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases,\u201d he said. \u201cThis may in turn protect against cerebrovascular atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, reduced blood flow, and damage to brain tissue, offering a plausible link to explain our findings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Honorine Lebraud, a senior partnerships manager at Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK, who was not involved in the research, said: \u201cThis observational study adds to growing evidence linking cardiovascular health and brain health. It reinforces the fact that what is good for the heart is good for the brain.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore work is needed to show a direct link between statins and reduced dementia risk. This study offers important clues about how cholesterol and cardiovascular health influence dementia risk, while also showing where future research should focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer of the British Heart Foundation, said it was important to remember that this was an observational study, which meant it could show an association but cannot prove that statins themselves reduced the risk of dementia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, there is evidence from trials that do show that statins reduce the risk of dementia so the findings in this study are certainly plausible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Statins can lower the risk of dementia by 15%, and the earlier in life they are taken the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[18,135,19,17],"class_list":["post-663310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117183358455482075","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}