Statins do NOT protect against Azlheimer's

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Sharon Hope - 11 Feb 2005 04:36 GMT

Many of us who have been exposed first-hand to the devastating cognitive
adverse effects of statins have been tremendously skeptical of the "Can
statins prevent Alz?????" headlines, which appeared at a time that
conveniently offset articles in the popular media that exposed the memory
loss caused by statins.

We doubters also questioned how the studies would differentiate between Alz
and statin-induced memory loss.

As it turns out, this latest study shows that statins do NOT prevent
Alzheimer's:

Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-02
-10T211401Z_01_B371082_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-STATINS-DEMENTIA-DC.XML
Reuters.uk, UK - 5 hours ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs
belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem
to have any effect ...

Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7598600
Reuters - 5 hours ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs
belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem
to have any effect ...

Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=488976
ABC News - 5 hours ago
Feb 10, 2005 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of
cholesterol-lowering drugs belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor
or Pravacol, does not seem ...

Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:15 PM GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs belonging
to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem to have any
effect on the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to findings
from a new study.

This supports the results of another study, but run counter other study
findings that have linked statin use with a reduced risk of dementia.

The current study involved elderly residents living in Cache County, Utah,
who were evaluated for statin use and dementia between 1995 and 1997 and
then again between 1998 and 2000.

Dr. John C. S. Breitner, from the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in
Seattle, and colleagues report their findings in the Archives of General
Psychiatry.

Of the 4,895 subjects evaluated at the initial assessment, 355 had dementia,
including 200 with Alzheimer's disease. In this analysis, statin use was
associated with a 56-percent 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, statin
use at the start of the study or at follow-up had no effect on the risk of
dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

One explanation for the different findings could be that after dementia sets
in, patients may simply be less likely to use statins, along with other
drugs.

Studies with sufficient statistical power are needed to assess the effect of
statin use on dementia risk, the authors note. "Until such research is able
to demonstrate more promising results, however, we suggest that costly
randomized trials of statins are premature."

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, February 2005.

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Sharon Hope - 11 Feb 2005 04:37 GMT

Abstract from Pub Med:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstra
ct&list_uids=15699299

1: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005 Feb;62(2):217-24.

Do statins reduce risk of incident dementia and Alzheimer disease? The Cache
County Study.

Zandi PP, Sparks DL, Khachaturian AS, Tschanz J, Norton M, Steinberg M,
Welsh-Bohmer KA, Breitner JC; Cache County Study investigators.

Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns
Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD, USA.

BACKGROUND: Prior reports suggest reduced occurrence of dementia and
Alzheimer
disease (AD) in statin users, but, to our knowledge, no prospective studies
relate statin use and dementia incidence. OBJECTIVE: To examine the
association
of statin use with both prevalence and incidence of dementia and AD. DESIGN:
Cross-sectional studies of prevalence and incidence and a prospective study
of
incidence of dementia and AD among 5092 elderly residents (aged 65 years or
older) of a single county. Participants were assessed at home in 1995-1997
and
again in 1998-2000. A detailed visual inventory of medicines, including
statins
and other lipid-lowering agents, was collected at both assessments. MAIN
OUTCOME
MEASURES: Diagnosis of dementia and of AD. RESULTS: From 4895 participants
with
data sufficient to determine cognitive status, we identified 355 cases of
prevalent dementia (200 with AD) at initial assessment. Statin use was
inversely
associated with prevalence of dementia (adjusted odds ratio, 0.44; 95%
confidence interval, 0.17-0.94). Three years later, we identified 185 cases
of
incident dementia (104 with AD) among 3308 survivors at risk. Statin use at
baseline did not predict incidence of dementia or AD (adjusted hazard ratio
for
dementia, 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.53-2.34; adjusted hazard ratio
for
AD, 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-2.96), nor did statin use at
follow-up
(adjusted odds ratio for dementia, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-1.81;
adjusted odds ratio for AD, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-1.88).
CONCLUSIONS: Although statin use might be less frequent in those with
prevalent
dementia, we found no association between statin use and subsequent onset of
dementia or AD. Further research is warranted before costly dementia
prevention
trials with statins are undertaken.

PMID: 15699299 [PubMed - in process]

> Many of us who have been exposed first-hand to the devastating cognitive
> adverse effects of statins have been tremendously skeptical of the "Can
[quoted text clipped - 77 lines]
>
> SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, February 2005.

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Baird Stafford - 11 Feb 2005 18:53 GMT

<snip>

> One explanation for the different findings could be that after dementia sets
> in, patients may simply be less likely to use statins, along with other
> drugs.

In other words, the most that can be concluded from this study is that
statin drugs do not CURE Alzheimer's, rather than that they do not
PREVENT the disease.

I'll wait for more research to be published before I make up my mind one
way or the other.

<snip>

Blessed be,
Baird

Signature

Modkin of soc.religion.paganism
Modstaff of alt.religion.wicca.moderated
Newstaff, Inc. at newstaff.com

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Sharon Hope - 12 Feb 2005 05:57 GMT

> <snip>
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> I'll wait for more research to be published before I make up my mind one
> way or the other.

No treatment of Azlheimer's was attempted, this study did not intend nor
attempt to cure anything.

The study explored whether or not people who take statins have a lower
chance of developing Alzheimer's. The conclusion of the study was, no,
statins do not reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer's.

In the words of the full text version of the study:

"Here we report new evidence from the Cache County Study suggesting that the
cross-sectional association of statin use and dementia reported by other
studies is not sustained in prospective analyses of incident illness. These
and similar recent findings raise doubts about the previously suggested
neuroprotective role of statins. "

Conclusions:

Per the Abstract:
"Conclusions Although statin use might be less frequent in those with
prevalent dementia, we found no association between statin use and
subsequent onset of dementia or AD. Further research is warranted before
costly dementia prevention trials with statins are undertaken. "

Quoted from the full text of the study (note the last sentence):
"Using data from the large Cache County Study, we examined the association
of statin use with prevalent and incident dementia and AD. As had been
suggested by previous studies, cross-sectional analyses showed an inverse
relationship of statin use with prevalent dementia. Notably, however, no
association was evident with incident dementia in either cross-sectional or
prospective analyses. Overall, these findings do not suggest that statins
reduce the risk of dementia."

> <snip>
>
> Blessed be,
> Baird

Reply to this Message

Baird Stafford - 12 Feb 2005 20:30 GMT

<snip>

> >> One explanation for the different findings could be that after dementia
> >> sets
> >> in, patients may simply be less likely to use statins, along with other
> >> drugs.

> > In other words, the most that can be concluded from this study is that
> > statin drugs do not CURE Alzheimer's, rather than that they do not
> > PREVENT the disease.

> > I'll wait for more research to be published before I make up my mind one
> > way or the other.

<snip>

> Conclusions:

> Per the Abstract:
> "Conclusions Although statin use might be less frequent in those with
> prevalent dementia, we found no association between statin use and
> subsequent onset of dementia or AD. Further research is warranted before
> costly dementia prevention trials with statins are undertaken. "

What I said.

<snip>

Blessed be,
Baird

Signature

Modkin of soc.religion.paganism
Modstaff of alt.religion.wicca.moderated
Newstaff, Inc. at newstaff.com

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