Statin Use Not Protective Against Alzheimer's in Prospective Study

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 10 - Statin use does not seem to have any

effect on the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to findings

from a prospective study. This supports the results of another prospective

study, but run counter to observational and cross-sectional study findings,

which have linked statin use with a reduced risk of dementia.

The current study involved 5092 elderly residents living in Cache County,

Utah, who were evaluated for statin use and dementia in 1995-1997 and then

again in 1998-2000. Dr. C. S. Breitner, from the VA Puget Sound Health

Care System in Seattle, and colleagues report their findings in the Archives

of General Psychiatry for February.

Of the 4895 evaluable subjects at the initial assessment, 355 had dementia,

including 200 with Alzheimer's disease. In this analysis of prevalent

disease, statin use was associated with a 56%reduction in risk of dementia.

During 3-year follow-up, 185 of 3308 at-risk survivors were diagnosed with

dementia, including 104 with Alzheimer's disease. In this analysis of

incident disease, statin use at baseline or at follow-up had no effect on

the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

One explanation for different findings from the prevalence and incidence

analysis could be that after dementia sets in, patients may simply be less

likely to use statins, along with other agents.

Prospective, observational studies with sufficient statistical power are

needed to assess the effect of statin use on dementia risk, the authors

state. " Until such research is able to demonstrate more promising results,

however, we suggest that costly randomized trials of statins are premature. "

Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005;62:217-224.