Statin
Therapy for Diabetics May Prevent Alzheimer's
A
new study suggests that taking statins is associated with a 39%
reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
A
team of Boston University epidemiologists reported here Wednesday that
a study of Alzheimer's patients and their family members suggests that
taking statins is associated with a 39% reduction in risk of
developing Alzheimer's disease.
Dr.
Robert C. Green, associate professor of neurology, Boston University
School of Medicine presented the new findings at the 8th International
Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders.
Dr.
Green and colleagues studied 895 Alzheimer's patients and 1483 family
members of Alzheimer's patients. Using detailed questionnaires, the
researchers gathered information on diet, age, sex, education, medical
history and medications.
Twenty-three
of the Alzheimer's disease patients had a history of statin use, while
60 of the healthy, non-demented relatives used statins.
While
statin use was associated with a 39% reduced risk of Alzheimer's
disease, subjects who used nonstatin cholesterol-lowering drugs did
not have a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The association between
statin use and lower disease risk was not affected by the presence or
absence of APOE genotype.
Even
with these small numbers, statins were the only cholesterol-lowering
treatment that demonstrated a statistically significant protective
effect.
Dr.
Brian Austen of St. George's Medical School said that once cholesterol
enters brain cells, it begins to "act like a raft" that
attracts amyloid precursor protein, to which beta amyloid attaches,
forming amyloid plaques.
Statins
can cross the blood-brain barrier and block plaque formation and
statins are the only cholesterol-lowering treatment that works at this
cellular level.
In
September, the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Group will begin
a year-long randomized, trial to compare the effects of simvastatin (Zocor)
with placebo in patients with established Alzheimer's disease. The
study, which is being funded by the National Institute on Aging, will
enroll 400 patients.
Dr.
Leon Thal, principal investigator of the new study, said that
simvastatin was selected because although most statins can penetrate
the brain, simvastatin is slightly more effective at doing so.
Dr.
Green cautioned that it is too early for doctors to begin prescribing
statins as "either an Alzheimer's treatment or as a way to
prevent Alzheimer's disease."
If
your patients are having a problem paying for their medications go to www.diabetesmeds.org
and download the application that will allow them to get all of their
medications for 10 dollars or less for a 90 day supply.
