The risk of cuts in the most commonly prescribed drugs of the United Kingdom suggests the study
A common drug prescribed to help lower cholesterol It has been discovered that the levels have cut dementia risk.
The high cholesterol has long been linked to bad general health, but a recent study published in the Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry has revealed that it could also Increases the risk From dementia.
He discovered that people with lower levels of “bad cholesterol” in their blood are less likely to develop the Memory robing condition.
Cholesterol is a natural fatty substance found in the blood. Low density lipoproteins (LDL) also known as “bad cholesterol” can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke if they are too high.
But exercising and eating healthily can lower these levels. Drugs called statins, which are administered to about 8 million British, are also prescribed to those with high cholesterol if the lifestyle changes are not sufficient, helping to prevent cardiovascular events.
However, researchers from the Hallym University College of Medicine in South Korea have said that the drug could also protect from dementia.
Scientists analyzed the data collected by 11 university hospitals who followed adults for 180 days after obtaining their cholesterol levels and observed whether patients continued to develop dementia in the study period.
The researchers identified 192,213 people with LDL levels lower than 1.8 mmol/l and 379,006 patients with LDL levels exceeding 3.4 mmol/l.
Those with lower LDL levels had 26 % less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those who had higher cholesterol levels.
These patients also had 28 % less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
However, if the LDL levels dropped below 1.4 mmol/l, the participants only had a 18 % lower risk of obtaining dementia or Alzheimer’s.
In addition, when the LDL levels dropped below 0.8 mmol/l, the protective effect has completely disappeared.
The researchers discovered that drug statins increased the protection against dementia, even when the LDL levels of the participants were already in the lower part.
For those lower than 1.8 mmol/l, the risk of dementia has been reduced by 13 % and Alzheimer ‘by 12 % compared to those who have not taken statins.
Dr. Julia Dudley, responsible for research at the Alzheimer’s Research UK says: “High levels of LDL cholesterol have been identified as a risk factor for dementia in the Lancet Commission for the prevention of last year’s dementia”.
“The use of statins seemed to offer a protective effect, even in those who already had cholesterol levels within a lower interval,” he added.
“However, the risk of dementia is complex and influenced by many factors. Without a detailed picture of what is happening in the brain we do not know if there is a direct link between lower cholesterol and reduction of the risk of dementia.”
The researchers explained that, since it was an observational study, still stops on the cause and effect cannot be drawn.
The authors concluded: “The low levels of LDL-C (<70 mg/dl (<1.8 mmol/l)) are significantly associated with a reduced risk of dementia, including dementia related to Alzheimer's disease, with therapy with statins that provide further protective effects".
