Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs May Also Reduce Alzheimer's Risk

A new study links a cholesterol-lowering statin with a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Patients taking Zocor (simvastatin) were 54% less likely to develop Alzheimer's, and 49% less likely to develop Parkinson's, than similar patients who did not take that drug. Other statins showed much less or no relationship to reducing the incidence of those diseases.

Statins reduce inflammation, and inflammation in the brain has been associated with Alzheimer's.

The 1.2 million patient records analyzed for the study were all from the US Department of Veterans Affairs database, and were all men. The study authors acknowledge that this could lead to a statistical bias.

The potential benefit of statins in reducing Alzheimer's incidence is the subject of a significant amount of research, and not all of it supports using the drugs. Three studies that tracked patients over several years -- as opposed to snapshots of statin users vs non-users at a single point in time -- found that statins were no help. One researcher, Dr. John Breitner, said that "If you look at a 'snapshot' of statin users compared with non-users at a single moment in time, statin users seem to have a lower risk of Alzheimer's," Breitner said. "But if you look at people taking statins at enrollment in these studies and follow them over several years, the benefit of statins in warding off dementia largely disappears" (an abstract is here).

Large scale clinical trials that may resolve these questions are underway.

Other anti-inflammatories have been shown to reduce Alzheimer's incidence. A 2001 study of almost 7,000 people found that use of NSAIDs such as ibuprofen for more than two years reduced Alzheimer's risk 80% (use for less than two years reduced it 17%). A 2003 study, presented to the American Academy of Neurology, found a 73% reduction in Alzheimer's onset for NSAID users of 2+ years, and 28% whatever the duration. One of the researchers commented that "We do believe we have generated a strong hypothesis, looking at all the studies, that NSAIDs do have a preventive effect in regards to development of Alzheimer's disease."

However, NSAID benefits need to be balanced against risk, especially for gastric bleeding.

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Other sources: "Saving Your Brain," by Dr. Jeffrey Victoroff.

"Quick Study: For Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, One Drug May Have an Edge," in the Washington Post, July 27 2007.