Use of statins decreases mortality, stroke in dementia patients

The use of statins in dementia patients is significantly linked to reduced mortality and stroke risks among the patients, new research shows.

According to a study presented at the '5th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress', it was found that users of statins, a class of drug, had a 22 per cent lower risk of all-cause death compared to matched non-users.

The study analysed 44,920 Swedish dementia patients.

"Survival in patients in dementia is variable, and previous studies have identified many factors associated with survival and risk of stroke in these patients", said Bojana Petek, the study's first author.

"However, the effect of statins on these two outcomes is not clear. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between the use of statins on the risk of death and stroke in patients diagnosed with dementia," Petek added.

The research also demonstrated that statin users had a 23 per cent reduction in the risk of stroke, which is three times more likely in patients with mild dementia and seven times more likely in those with severe dementia.

The protective effect of statins on survival were strong for patients younger than 75 years (27 per cent reduction) and in men (26 per cent reduction) but women and older patients also benefitted (17 per cent and 20 per cent reduction respectively).

Patients with vascular dementia - the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease - also saw a 29 per cent lower mortality risk.

"This is a cohort study, which means patients were not randomized to a treatment like they would be in a clinical trial. For this reason, we can only show an association, and not definitely prove that statins caused this decline in mortality. However, our results are encouraging and suggest that patients with dementia benefit from statins to a similar extent than patients without dementia," said Dr Sara Garcia-Ptacek, study's lead author.