Could Statin Use Lower Alzheimer Disease Risk?

Statins may potentially lower the risk of developing Alzheimer disease for both men and women, although the reduction varies across race, ethnicity, sex, and type of statin.

In order to explore the potential use of currently-available drugs to reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease, researchers conducted a study of medical and pharmacy claims of Medicare beneficiaries from 2006 to 2013, comparing rates of Alzheimer disease diagnosis for 399,979 statin users with high or low exposure to statins.
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The 399,979 participants included 7794 black men, 24,484 black women, 11,2000 Hispanic men, 21,458 Hispanic women, 115,059 white men, and 195,181 white women.

Overall, high exposure to statins was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer disease diagnosis for women and men. Simvastatin was associated with lower Alzheimer risk for white women, white men, Hispanic women, Hispanic men, and black women. Atorvastatin was associated with reduced risk for white women, black women, Hispanic men, and Hispanic women. Pravastatin and rosuvastatin were associated with reduced risk for white women only. High statin exposure was not associated with a significantly low risk among black men.

“The reduction in Alzheimer disease risk varied across statin molecules, sex, and race/ethnicity. Clinical trials that include racial and ethnic groups need to confirm these findings. Because statins may affect Alzheimer disease risk, physicians should consider which statin is prescribed to each patient,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Zissimopoulos JM, Barthold D, Brinton RD, et al. Sex and race differences in the association between statin use and the incidence of alzheimer disease [published online December 12, 2016]. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.3783.