Healthy living
Medicines and supplements
Statin may halve Alzheimers and Parkinson's risk
Clot-busting statin drug may give added protection against brain disease
Statins have already been hailed by the medical profession as wonder drugs for their ability to protect against heart disease and stroke. Now research has found that one particular formulation, simvastatin, lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease by almost 50 percent, according to a study published in the online journal BMC Medicine.
"The strength of reduction of incidence of dementia with simvastatin is striking," said lead author Benjamin Wolozin, a professor of pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine.
Researchers looked at the effects of several different statin drugs on patients. Previous research, pooling all the statin drugs together, has always produced conflicting results, which has meant that up until now the extra benefits of these drugs has been unclear.
Using data from the US Veterans Affairs Database, which contains information on 4.5 million people, the team compared the effects of three major statin drugs: lovastatin, simvastatin and atorvastatin. In people aged 65 and over they found that simvastatin was the only statin linked to a significant reduction in the incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Simvastatin reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s type dementia by more than 54 percent and the risk of Parkinson’s by 49 percent.
The researchers think that simvastatin might work because it is a very strong statin which can easily enter brain tissue.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, welcomed the results."It is good news if we can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease in any patient group,’ she said. However she was keen to stress that this study was based purely on statistical analysis. ‘It is now important to look at the biological reasons why one statin could have such a different impact compared to another.'
Dr Kieran Breen, Director of Research and Development for the Parkinson’s Disease Society, agrees that more research is required, "Further studies are needed to establish the role of cholesterol-lowering statins on the development of Parkinson’s. We also need to understand why the results of this study were more pronounced with one of the drugs and whether its effect was due to lowered cholesterol levels or some effect the drug has upon the brain."
There are about 120,000 Parkinson’s suffers and over 700,000 dementia sufferers in the UK. At present treatment for both these conditions, which cannot be cured, is limited.
Useful articles
- Should we all be on statins?
- The statins debate
- The case against statins
- The case in favour of statins
- What to do if you have side effects from statins
- Do statins raise the risk of Parkinson's?
- Living with Alzheimer's disease
Useful websites
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Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
