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How Does Statins Use Affect Alzheimers?
Does anyone have any good information on this? I find conflicting information that I read as if there is a vascular component, avoiding cholesterol based plaques is recommended, but what if there is no heart history and your doctor is keeping his cholesterol really low, around 100? Maybe I'm just grasping at straws.
Thank you Helen for doing the research for us. I agree with you that statins may not be appropriate in advanced dementia.
Thank you so much for the excellent information on statin, use, benefit & risks. None of my husbands MDs thought that discontinuing his statin med which he has been on for years would benefit his cognitive status. As an experiment I stopped his statin for 3 months. I saw no change positive or negative. MDs probably factor in the persons overall physical health and level of functioning overall. John is also on an antidepressant which I think helps his mood overall. No one correct answer. So complex.
Yes, thank you @A myALZteam Member for the great research. Following my husband's wishes per his advanced directives, when statins were offered for my husband last year I declined them. They may have undesirable cognitive side effects and my husband even in his confused state said, "my brain is foggy enough." After 8+ years of dementia symptoms, we're now on the palliative care approach to medication, focusing only on comfort and happiness rather than extending life. He does continue to take an antidepressant (20mg of Lexapro/Escitalopram) which has tremendously helped our quality of life.
This is a good question. I suspect the doctor is aiming to reduce inflammation; but when someone already has pretty advanced Alzheimer's or Dementia, they are well past the point of prevention. (In my personal opinion, the horse is well out of the barn now, and there are much more important things to focus on, than a super-low cholesterol level!)
The current thinking about statins is shifting, and there's a LOT of old and conflicting information out there, so it's especially important to try to stick with really credible sources, and current info. Since I read, read, read, here's my take.
First: This 2023 study published by the National Library of Medicine is probably the most specific to your situation: "What is the impact of ongoing statin use on cognitive decline and dementia progression in older adults with mild-moderate Alzheimer disease?"
● It says: "the current results suggest ongoing statin use does not delay cognitive decline or clinical progression in established AD."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10...
Next: Another published study: "Association between statin use and Alzheimer’s disease with dose response relationship". Key points include:
● As with many things in life, moderation is best: "Compared to moderate total cholesterol levels (200–240 mg/dL), low cholesterol levels (< 160 mg/dL) and high cholesterol levels (≥ 300 mg/dL) were associated with an increased risk of AD with a U-shaped curve".
● That said, the study also states that long-term use of statins (≥ 540 days) was associated with a decrease in Alzheimer's Disease.
● And it concludes with this: "Our findings indicate that, although hypercholesterolemia can increase the risk of AD, persistent and adherent use of statins can reduce and even reverse the risk. Statin use itself is not associated with AD risk, and persistence of and good adherence to statin therapy should be emphasized in clinical practice and public health education."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC83...
Last: The Harvard Health Newsletter has reported that the specific statin used is important to consider, because some (but not all) of the statins can cause brain-related side effects in some (but not all) patients. There's also a recent follow-up article (Nov. 2023), so here are links to both:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/...
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-con...
@A myALZteam Member: In light this question today, and what you wrote about yesterday, I now think this screenshot about statin side effects may be important information to you.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10...
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