Can the Use of Statins Help Reduce the Risk of Dementia?
A meta-analysis published last year by Taiwanese experts evaluated the connection between the use of statins and the incidence of dementia. What conclusions did the authors reach?
Analyzed Studies
The authors of this work conducted a systematic search of Embase, Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to find observational studies on statin treatment and dementia incidence published from January 2000 to March 2018. They included 30 studies in their assessment, involving 9,162,509 patients, of whom 84,101 suffered from dementia. They used a random-effects model for the meta-analysis of these studies and subsequently performed subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis.
Findings
The incidence of dementia from any cause was significantly lower in patients treated with statins in these studies compared to patients without statins: the relative risk (RR) was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79–0.87). Statin use showed a statistically significant association with a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease: RR 0.69 (95% CI 0.60–0.80; p < 0.0001). The incidence of vascular dementia was insignificantly lower in patients treated with statins: RR 0.93 (95% CI 0.74–1.16; p = 0.54).
Conclusion
The cited recent meta-analysis of three dozen observational studies showed a significantly lower incidence of dementia in patients treated with statins compared to patients who did not use statins. This effect was mainly due to a reduction in the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.
(zza)
Source: Poly T. N., Islam M. M., Walther B. A. et al. Association between use of statin and risk of dementia: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Neuroepidemiology 2020; 54 (3): 214–226, doi: 10.1159/000503105.
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