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43/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 43 out of 100. Drug development

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

High cholesterol levels are a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but their role in dementia and cognitive decline is less clear. This review highlights current knowledge on the role of cholesterol in late-life cognitive function, cognitive decline, and dementia. When measured in midlife, high cholesterol levels associate with an increased risk of late-life dementia and cognitive decline. However, when measured in late-life, high cholesterol levels show no association with cognitive function, or even show an inverse relation. Although statin treatment has been shown to associate with a lower risk of dementia and cognitive decline in observational studies, randomized controlled trials show no beneficial effect of statin treatment on late-life cognitive function. Lowering cholesterol levels may impair brain function, since cholesterol is essential for synapse formation and maturation and plays an important role in the regulation of signal transduction through its function as a component of the cell membrane. However, membrane cholesterol also plays a role in the formation and aggregation of amyloid-β. Factors that influence cholesterol metabolism, such as dietary intake, are shown to play a role in late-life cognitive function and the risk of dementia. In conclusion, cholesterol associates with late-life cognitive function, but the association is strongly age-dependent. There is no evidence that treatment with statins in late-life has a beneficial effect on cognitive function.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

van Vliet, P. (2012). Cholesterol and late-life cognitive decline. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-2011-111028

Vancouver

van Vliet P. Cholesterol and late-life cognitive decline. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2012. doi:10.3233/jad-2011-111028. PMID: 22269162.

BibTeX

@article{vanvliet2012-22269162,
  author  = {van Vliet, P.},
  title   = {{Cholesterol and late-life cognitive decline}},
  journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.3233/jad-2011-111028},
  pmid    = {22269162},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-2011-111028}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a narrative review. It summarises a field without a fixed search method, so it shows how authors read the evidence rather than measuring it. Use it to find the primary studies, not as a result in itself.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded high. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. High means the abstract mentions a randomized design, a meta-analysis or a systematic review. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

When measured in midlife, high cholesterol levels associate with an increased risk of late-life dementia and cognitive decline.
Although statin treatment has been shown to associate with a lower risk of dementia and cognitive decline in observational studies, randomized controlled trials show no beneficial effect of statin treatment on late-life cognitive function.
In conclusion, cholesterol associates with late-life cognitive function, but the association is strongly age-dependent.

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Study details

Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 43/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 25 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	— / 7	No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year	— / 5	No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	— / 6	Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited	— / 4	No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	— / 3	No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multicenter collaboration	— / 3	Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22269162)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	25 / 58	Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 25 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100.
Total	43 / 100	—

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