The UK’s most commonly prescribed drug could actually help lower the risk of dementia, a new bombshell study has revealed. A pill taken to help lower cholesterol levels has been found to have another hugely positive and potentially life-changing result for millions of Brits.
The incredible study – published by the Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry – found high cholesterol levels, commonly known to possibly lead to heart disease, could also increase the risk of dementia. Researchers suggested cholesterol-lowering statins – a medication taken by a whopping eight million Brits – could help people fight off the heartbreaking memory-stealing disorder.
Cholesterol is a waxy fat-like substance naturally found in blood. It is an essential part of the body but high levels of cholesterol could lead to a build-up of plaque in arteries, potentially blocking blood flow and causing serious and potentially deadly health issues like heart attacks.
Researchers at the Hallym University College of Medicine in South Korea collected data from 571,000 people to make their ground-breaking discovery. Scientists followed people for 180 days after their cholesterol levels were tested, to see whether patients developed dementia during the six-month period.
They had 192,213 people with LDL-C, also known as “bad cholesterol”, levels less than 1.8 mmol/L and 379,006 patients with LDL-C levels higher than 3.4 mmol/L. Scientists found people with lower amounts of “bad cholesterol” had a lower risk of developing dementia. Researchers also found patients with low LDL-C levels were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The study found taking statins could provide “additional protective effect” against the brain condition for people with low-levels of bad cholesterol. The risk of dementia dropped by around 13% for people with LDL-C levels below 1.8 mmol/L who also used statins.
This research was observational, meaning no hard conclusions can be drawn from the results. Despite this, these scientists said: “Low LDL-C levels … are significantly associated with a reduced risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia, with statin therapy providing additional protective effects.”
The head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, Dr Julia Dudley, said: “The use of statins seemed to offer a protective effect – even in those who already had cholesterol levels within a lower range.
“However, dementia risk is complex and influenced by many factors. Without a detailed picture of what’s going on in the brain, we do not know if there is a direct link between lower cholesterol and reduced dementia risk. Clinical trials will be key to understand what effects statins might be having on disease processes in the brain.”
This study isn’t the first to raise surprise questions about how common medications could affect the risk of dementia. Researchers at the University of Nottingham issued a warning about a commonly-prescribed drug after bombshell research revealed links to the brain condition.
They found that anticholinergic drugs, which help treat bladder problems and depression, were linked to an almost 50% increase in risk of dementia among patients aged 55 and over.
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