Starting a statin within a year of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis went with a 15 per cent lower relative dementia risk than never starting, and starting between one and five years with a 10 per cent lower risk. The register analysis cannot prove statins prevent dementia. Under referral of prostate cancer patients to a heart doctor, statin use stood at 63 per cent against 40 per cent and cholesterol was lower; heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths did not differ.
Among people who developed type 2 diabetes and had never taken a statin, starting within the first year went with a 15 per cent lower relative risk of dementia than never starting. Starting between one and five years went with a 10 per cent lower risk, with similar results in women and men. Over the follow-up 2.7 per cent developed dementia.[1]
Researchers note that statins are underused in type 2 diabetes even though the drugs already have an established cardiovascular role. One author says the finding cannot prove statins prevent dementia and that further research should test it. The people in the comparison had never taken a statin before the diabetes diagnosis arrived.[1]
Men treated for prostate cancer, especially with hormone therapy, carry a higher risk of heart disease. Under routine referral to a cardiologist or internist, statin use stood at 63 per cent against 40 per cent, blood pressure medication at 56 per cent against 49 per cent, and cholesterol was lower. Deaths from cardiovascular causes, heart attacks, strokes and heart failure did not differ between the groups. Fewer cardiovascular complications occurred than the trial had planned for, and the comparison's detection window is narrower than planned.[2]
