Statins slowed cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease

The benefit of statins for elderly patients with dementia has been revealed. Treatment with these drugs can slow the development of cognitive impairment depending on the dose. The most pronounced improvement on the MMSE scale was found in participants who received simvastatin.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the University of Ljubljana, the University of Edmonton in Canada and the University of Madrid studied the association between the use of prescription hypolipidemic drugs and cognitive decline over time in a population of patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia of mixed etiology. The results of the study are published in the journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.

The researchers found a dose-dependent effect: taking a daily dose of statins was associated with a 0.63-point improvement in MMSE scores after three years compared to not taking the drugs. Simvastatin users had a 1.01-point improvement in MMSE scores compared with atorvastatin users.

Among participants younger than 79.5 years of age who received simvastatin, MMSE scores after three years were 0.8 higher compared with those taking atorvastatin of similar age.

Cognitive abilities were 1.03 points higher on the MMSE scale among participants who received simvastatin compared with rosuvastatin therapy.

Data from 15,586 patients were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 79.5 years at the time of diagnosis. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the MMSE Mental Status Evaluation Scale and data were compared between participants taking statins and participants not receiving hypolipidemic drugs.