 |
|
Cholesterol treatment, including statins, may slow Alzheimer's disease progression
November 17, 2005Lipid lowering agents are associated with a slower cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2005; 76: 1624-9
Cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, concludes a study in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The research team assessed the degree of brain function loss caused by Alzheimer's disease in 342 patients attending a memory clinic. They then monitored the progress of the disease for almost three years. The average age of the patients was 73. Most were women.
In all, 129 patients had abnormal cholesterol levels, almost half of whom were being treated exclusively with statins. Of the remainder, 105 had abnormal untreated cholesterol , and 108 had normal cholesterol levels. Drug treatment included fibrates or statins, or a mixture of both.
During the three years, all the patients deteriorated, but the disease progressed significantly more slowly in the patients given cholesterol lowering drugs. Progression of the disease was rated at 1.5 points a year in those given the drugs, 2.4 in those whose cholesterol was not treated, and 2.6 in those with normal cholesterol levels.
The risk factor profile for Alzheimer's disease, including high blood pressure and diabetes, scarcely differed between the two groups with abnormal cholesterol levels.
The authors conclude that cholesterol lowering drugs may effectively slow progression of Alzheimer's disease, but suggest that a large trial will be needed to confirm their findings.
An accompanying editorial argues that it is still too early to definitively conclude that cholesterol lowering treatment is a valid option for patients with Alzheimer's disease.
The editorial also points out that the research was not able to isolate the potential advantages of the drugs other than their ability to lower cholesterol.
BMJ Specialty Journals
In all, 129 patients had abnormal cholesterol levels, almost half of whom were being treated exclusively with statins. Of the remainder, 105 had abnormal untreated cholesterol , and 108 had normal cholesterol levels. Drug treatment included fibrates or statins, or a mixture of both.
During the three years, all the patients deteriorated, but the disease progressed significantly more slowly in the patients given cholesterol lowering drugs. Progression of the disease was rated at 1.5 points a year in those given the drugs, 2.4 in those whose cholesterol was not treated, and 2.6 in those with normal cholesterol levels.
The risk factor profile for Alzheimer's disease, including high blood pressure and diabetes, scarcely differed between the two groups with abnormal cholesterol levels.
The authors conclude that cholesterol lowering drugs may effectively slow progression of Alzheimer's disease, but suggest that a large trial will be needed to confirm their findings.
An accompanying editorial argues that it is still too early to definitively conclude that cholesterol lowering treatment is a valid option for patients with Alzheimer's disease.
The editorial also points out that the research was not able to isolate the potential advantages of the drugs other than their ability to lower cholesterol.
BMJ Specialty Journals
Statins News and Current Statins Events RSSWill screening for cardiovascular problems be effective?
Last week the government in England closed its consultation on the effectiveness of vascular checks for high-risk individuals aged 40-74, to be rolled out in 2009-10, but will this strategy be worthwhile? Experts debate the issue on bmj.com today.
Heart attack patients who stop statin risk death, say McGill researchers
Patients discontinuing statin medication following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) increase their risk of dying over the next year, say researchers at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Their study was published in a recent issue of the European Heart Journal.
Low cholesterol associated with cancer in diabetics
Low levels of LDL cholesterol as well as high levels are associated with cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers find cancer-inhibiting compound under the sea
University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers have discovered a marine compound off the coast of Key Largo that inhibits cancer cell growth in laboratory tests, a finding they hope will fuel the development of new drugs to better battle the disease.
Lowering cholesterol early in life could save lives
With heart disease maintaining top billing as the leading cause of death in the United States, a team of University of California, San Diego School of Medicine physician-researchers is proposing that aggressive intervention to lower cholesterol levels as early as childhood is the best approach available today to reducing the incidence of coronary heart disease.
'Statins' linked to improved survival in kidney transplant recipients
For patients receiving kidney transplants, treatment with cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs may lead to longer survival, reports a study in the November 2008 Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
Kidney disease linked to lower medication use after heart attack
Patients with kidney disease-especially end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis-are less likely to receive recommended medications after a heart attack, reports a study in the September 2008 Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).
Fish oil and red yeast rice studied for lowering blood cholesterol
A great deal of scientific evidence shows that cholesterol-reducing medications known as statins can help prevent coronary artery disease.
Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells
Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.
CV risk management should be mandatory in RA and other types of inflammatory rheumatic disease
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients should undergo compulsory cardiovascular (CV) risk management and existing CV risk calculators should be adapted to the increased CV risk in inflammatory rheumatic disease patients.
More Statins News Articles
 | Cholesterol Down: Ten Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in Four Weeks--Without Prescription Drugs by Janet Brill Take Control of Your Cholesterol— Without DrugsIf you are one of the nearly 100 million Americans struggling with high cholesterol, then Dr. Janet Brill offers you a revolutionary new plan for taking control of your health—without the risks of statin drugs. With Dr. Brill’s breakthrough Cholesterol Down Plan, you simply add nine “miracle foods” to your regular diet... |
 | The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick |
 | Statin Drugs Side Effects by Duane Graveline If you are on a statin drug or are thinking of going on a statin, this fully referenced book, Statin Drug Side Effects, is a "must read" for you. The unacceptable legacy of statin drug use at today's high doses is a trail of chronic aches and pains, numbness, weakness, confusion, fatigue, shortness of breath and even heart failure in hordes of unsuspecting victims. Only by knowing this... |
 | What You Must Know About Statin Drugs & Their Natural Alternatives by Jay S. Cohen |
 | Natural Alternatives to Lipitor, Zocor & Other Statin Drugs: What to Use And Do to Help Lower Your Bad Cholesterol (Square One Health Guides) by Jay S. Cohen |
 | The Cholesterol Hoax by Sherry A. Rogers Cholesterol is not the biggest cause of heart disease nor is it predictive of heart disease. In fact, over half the folks who die of a heart attack never had high cholesterol. But they did have other warnings that could have saved their lives, had they been checked. And the cure for these is spelled out here via safe non-prescription nutrients. Cholesterol is merely the messenger, the smoke... |
 | Statin Drugs (4 One Hour Interviews) by Dr. Stan Monteith, Dr. Russell Blaylock, Bill Sardi, Dr. Ray Strand, Shane Ellison "Statin Drugs" The drug companies are trying to convince us we must lower our cholesterol level below 200, preferably below 170. Is that wise? If you lower your cholesterol level, will you live longer? What do the scientific studies reveal? When will the mistaken idea that cholesterol is the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes finally be discarded into the trash bin of unproven medical... |
 | Advances in Multiple Sclerosis and Experimental Demyelinating Diseases (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology) (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology) There is a need for a paradigm shift in our thinking about the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Challenging Charcot s hypothesis that inflammatory response is the primary contributor to demyelination, Dr. Rodriguez and colleagues take a fresh, bold look at the causes and possible treatments of MS. Assuming oligodendrocyte injury as a prerequisite to MS, the authors explore viruses,... |
 | The Next 20,000: After the Heart Attack, the Statins and Restenosis by Mike Stone The nightmare of cardiologists performing PCI (stent implantation) is the eventual blockage of the stent, a process known as restenosis. Restenosis can and does result in sudden death. My MI (heart attack) was in 2001. I discontinued taking statin medication in 2003, following 2 years of statin induced side effects, and the realization that the lipid hypothesis (cholesterol is the cause of... |
 | Lipitor: Thief of Memory, Statin Drugs and the Misguided War on Cholesterol by Duane Graveline Dr. Duane Graveline, former astronaut, aerospace medical research scientist, flight surgeon, and family doctor, given Lipitor(r) to lower his cholesterol, loses his short-term memory for several hours. He discontinues the drug, but a year later at his annual NASA physical is urged to resume it at half the dose. Six weeks later he loses both short and retrograde memories for half a day and is... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |