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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
We looked at all the credible, peer-reviewed studies out there, talked to experts. Here's everything you need to know about whether statins cause dementia. Roughly a quarter of all Americans over the age of 40 in the U.S. take statin drugs — which lower levels of cholesterol — in order to prevent cardiovascular disease. But they might be receiving an unexpected benefit. Statins reduce the levels of so-called “bad” cholesterol in the body. In people with vascular health issues, this helps to prevent cholesterol build-up in vessels and arteries, which in turn benefits blood pressure, and helps prevent a stroke or a heart attack. But, these benefits are sometimes overshadowed by misinformation on the internet, according to Heather Ferris, a clinical endocrinologist and scientist at the University of Virginia who studies cholesterol metabolism and its relationship to Alzheimer’s.A minority of researchers believe that statins which can cross into the brain — known also called “lipid-soluble” statins — may cause cognitive impairment or dementia (though these claims are seldom backed by evidence). This camp includes David Diamond, a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida.“You’ll wonder, because now statins are so widely prescribed to a high percentage of older people and we have an epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease,” Diamond told Being Patient.Ferris said that not only is there is no evidence to support the association between statins and increased instance of dementia — these claims and comments sometimes prompt or scare people to disregard their doctors’ advice and ditch their statins.“These drugs really do save lives,” Ferris said. “I can’t tell you how much time we spend as physicians trying to get cardiac patients back on their statins because of the clickbait they read.”Wait, what clickbait?One of the top Google search results for “Do statins cause dementia?” — an un-bylined, 2021 article published in a glossy trade magazine for pharmacists — covers a study that supposedly found a scary link between statins and dementia. However, the discussion is of a conference presentation of unpublished research from a study that looks at associations between statins and dementia — not cause an effect. It’s one lone study, and it found that only certain types of statins are able to cross what’s called the blood-brain barrier, making their way from the bloodstream into the brain. There’s no proof of cause and effect here, and there have been many larger, peer-reviewed, published studies, that have found the opposite — not just no risk, but an actual protective effect. While this article might have great SEO to make its way into Google rankings, it’s not the final word on statins and dementia — far from it.Below, we discuss multiple more credible studies and better, vast meta-analyses of scholar-backed research into the actual relationship between these common prescription cholesterol drugs and neurodegenerative diseases like, for example, Alzheimer’s.Before we go further: What are statins?Statins are designed to lower a person’s total cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like a heart attack or stroke. You
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