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Cholesterol drug cuts dementia risk
10/11/2000 12:39 - (SA)
Paris - Older people can greatly reduce the risk of dementia if they take drugs to lower cholesterol or other fats in the blood, according to research to be published on Saturday in The Lancet, the British medical weekly.
The research assessed 284 British people with dementia aged 50-89, and 1 080 people in a control group, whose medical records and
lifestyle were well documented.
The study found that drugs called statins, which reduce blood levels of fatty molecules known as lipids, provided a clear statistical link with protection against dementia.
Patients who took statins, which are often prescribed for people with high blood pressure, enjoyed a 70-percent lower risk of developing dementia, they found.
"These findings suggest that the use of statins could substantially reduce the risk of dementia in the elderly," said Hershel Jick of
Boston University School of Medicine, who led the research.
Statins are effective against dementia "either by delaying its onset, or by opposing specific or general age-related changes that
result in cognitive impairment," he said.
He called for urgent clinical research to follow up the study.
Previous studies have indicated a link between lipids and dementia.
One theory is that lipids line the arterial walls and clog up blood circulation to the brain, inflicting a series of minor strokes that
destroy brain cells by depriving them of oxygen.
By keeping the arterial pathways open, statins could diminish that risk, according to this thinking.
Another area under exploration is any potential link between lipids and Alzheimer's disease, a dementia-causing disorder in which
sheets of protein proliferate in the brain, destroying its cells. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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