High Dose Statins Prevents Dementia,
Study Suggests
High doses of statins prevent
dementia in older people, according to research presented at the ESC Congress
today by Dr. Tin-Tse Lin from Taiwan. The study of nearly 58,000 patients found
that high potency statins had the strongest protective effects against
dementia.
Dr Lin said: "Statins are
widely used in the older population to reduce the risk of cardiovascular
disease. But recent reports of statin-associated cognitive impairment have led
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to list statin-induced cognitive changes,
especially for the older population, in its safety communications."
He added: "Previous studies had
considered statin therapy to exert a beneficial effect on dementia. But few
large-scale studies have focused on the impact of statins on new-onset, non-vascular
dementia in the geriatric population."
Accordingly, the current study examined whether statin use was associated with new diagnoses of dementia. The researchers used a random sample of 1 million patients covered by Taiwan's National Health Insurance. From this they identified 57,669 patients aged >65 years who had no history of dementia in 1997 and 1998. The analysis included pre-senile and senile dementia but excluded vascular dementia.
There were 5,516 new diagnoses of
dementia during approximately 4.5 years of follow-up. The remaining 52,153
patients aged >65 formed the control group. Subjects were divided into
tertiles according to their mean daily equivalent1 dosage and total (across the
entire follow up period) equivalent dosage.
The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for
dementia were significantly inversely associated with increased daily or total
equivalent statin dosage. The HRs for the three tertiles of mean equivalent
daily dosage (lowest to highest) were 0.622, 0.697 and 0.419 vs control (p<0.001
for trend).
The HRs for the three tertiles of total equivalent dosage (lowest to highest) were 0.773, 0.632 and 0.332 vs control (p<0.001 for trend). The protective effect of statins remained in different age, gender and cardiovascular risk subgroups.
The HRs for the three tertiles of total equivalent dosage (lowest to highest) were 0.773, 0.632 and 0.332 vs control (p<0.001 for trend). The protective effect of statins remained in different age, gender and cardiovascular risk subgroups.
Dr Lin said: "The adjusted
risks for dementia were significantly inversely associated with increased total
or daily equivalent statin dosage. Patients who received the highest total
equivalent doses of statins had a 3-fold decrease in the risk of developing
dementia. Similar results were found with the daily equivalent statin
dosage."
He added: "It was the potency
of the statins rather than their solubility (lipophilic or hydrophilic) which
was a major determinant in reducing dementia. High potency statins such as
atorvastatin and rosuvastatin showed a significant inverse association with
developing dementia in a dose-response manner. Higher doses of high potency
statins gave the strongest protective effects against dementia."
Dr Lin continued: "The results
were consistent when analysing daily doses of different kinds of statins.
Almost all the statins (except lovastatin) decreased the risk for new onset
dementia when taken at higher daily doses.
"A high mean daily dosage of lovastatin was positively associated with the development of dementia, possibly because lovastatin is a lipophilic statin while the anti-inflammatory cholesterol lowering effect of lovastatin is not comparable to that of atorvastatin and simvastatin."
"A high mean daily dosage of lovastatin was positively associated with the development of dementia, possibly because lovastatin is a lipophilic statin while the anti-inflammatory cholesterol lowering effect of lovastatin is not comparable to that of atorvastatin and simvastatin."
Dr Lin concluded: "To the best
of our knowledge, this was the first large-scale, nation-wide study which
examined the effect of different statins on new onset dementia (except vascular
dementia) in an elderly population. We found that high doses of statins, particularly
high potency statins, prevent dementia."
Notes
1. Equivalent dosages are used when
comparing the effects of different drugs. Each statin was assigned an
appropriate equivalent dose according to the following formula: lovastatin 40mg
= pravastatin 40mg = simvastatin 20mg = atorvastatin 10mg = fluvastatin 80mg =
rosuvastatin 5mg.
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European
Society of Cardiology (2013, August 31). High dose statins prevents dementia,
study suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 2, 2013, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130831110906.htm