Tummas Ternhamar told reporters in Munich that statins were linked to a lower dementia risk in a 15-year study of more than 132,000 people in Denmark with type 2 diabetes. The findings were presented on Sunday at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology and published at the same time in Lancet Regional Health Europe.
Among 132,585 people followed from 2006 to 2021, 2.7% developed dementia. Those who started statins during the study period were 10% less likely to develop dementia, while earlier use was associated with a 15% reduction in risk. The results were similar in women and men.
Munich presentation
Ternhamar, a researcher at Copenhagen University hospital, said, “Our study supports the idea that dementia risk is best addressed by targeting several factors at once, and that cholesterol may belong on that list.” He added, “The Lancet commission already takes that multicomponent view, recommending that high LDL cholesterol be detected and treated from midlife. What our findings also add is that timing matters within that – acting early looks better than acting late.”
Isabel Goncalves, a member of the ESC communication committee, said, “Because statins are widely available and inexpensive, the findings are potentially important,” The study’s timing, presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Munich, puts the focus on whether treatment starts early enough to matter more.
Denmark study population
All of the people in the study had type 2 diabetes, which narrows the group even as the findings point toward possible broader use of statins. That detail matters for readers considering how far the results can be carried beyond the study population, because the research tested a specific risk group rather than people in general.
Statins lower LDL cholesterol, and high LDL has been linked to a higher chance of dementia in the study’s framing. The practical takeaway for people already being treated is not to wait for dementia symptoms, but to discuss whether cholesterol control is being addressed early enough in the course of care.
For now, the evidence points to a timing issue as much as a drug issue: earlier statin use was linked with the stronger reduction. That leaves one unresolved question for future research — whether the same dementia-risk reduction would be seen in people without type 2 diabetes.
