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A new study suggested that statin treatment may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.
STATES CHRONICLE – A new study has demonstrated that statins which fight against cholesterol may be able to reduce Alzheimer’s risk, depending on the ethnicity and gender of the person who uses it. Researchers have claimed that African-American men who have taken statins revealed to obtain no benefit from it. Nevertheless, the same pills bound to combat cholesterol helped white women decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study under discussion did not have proofs which attest that statins reduced the risks of developing Alzheimer’s. The author of the study, Julie Zissimopoulos, argued that she noticed that patients who presented high exposure to statins have shown that they reduced their chances of developing this illness compared to those who were barely exposed to statins. Zissimopoulos is an associate director of the Schaffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Previous studies have demonstrated that people who have high levels of cholesterol may boost the development of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Gail Li claimed that, apparently, statins are bound to reduce it. Dr. Li is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Even if Li did not take part in the development of the new study, she expressed she opinion arguing that statins do not appear to help people who were already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The study conducted by Zissimopoulos is prone to determine people understand how only particular groups of individuals may notice different results when using this treatment.
The team of researchers managed to register approximately 400,000 statin users who were aged 65 or even older. There were included in the study only those who were following the treatment between 2006 and 2013. After analyzing the result of the survey, Zissimopoulos stated that she together with her team were examining patients who were using statins for at least two years and they have analyzed them for at least five more years to discuss the risks of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers had also compared their outcomes with those of people with little exposure to statins, who either took the treatment for a shorter period than two years or they have started taking the pills after 2008. All in all, the increased use of statins was correlated with a 15% decreased the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in women while men proved a 12% more reduced risk of developing such a disease compared to people with lower exposure to the treatment.
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