title: Statins and cognitive function: an updated review.
abstract: Ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the USA. Statins have substantially contributed to the decline in mortality due to heart disease. Historically, statins are hypothesized to be neuroprotective and beneficial in dementia, but recent reports have suggested an association with transient cognitive decline. We have critically appraised the relationship between statins and cognitive function in this review. Most of the data are observational and reported a protective effect of statins on dementia and Alzheimer's disease in patients with normal cognition at baseline. Few studies, including two randomized control trials, were unable to find a statistically significant decrease in the risk or improvement in patients with established dementia or decline in cognitive function with statin use. As more randomized control trials are required to definitively settle this, cardiovascular benefits of statins must be weighed against the risks of cognitive decline on an individual basis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center of the Mount Sinai Health System, 1111 Amsterdam Avenue Clark Building, 3rd floor, New York, NY, 10025, USA, sauravchatterjeemd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Saurav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Parasuram
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
authors.forename: Pragya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ranjan
authors.forename: Ahana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Anasua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: Manpreet Singh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sabharwal
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Partha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sardar
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Danik
authors.forename: Jay S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Giri
authors.forename: Emil M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: DeGoma
authors.forename: Dharam J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kumbhani
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000139:chemically induced*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents