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62/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 62 out of 100. Drug development

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

Background The association between serum total cholesterol (TC), lipid-lowering drugs and cognition in the elderly is currently controversial. Objective To investigate the relationship between TC, lipid-lowering drugs and cognitive functions in non-demented elderly. Design and setting Participants of the Cardiovascular risk factors, aging and dementia (CAIDE) study were derived from random, population-based samples previously studied in 1972, 1977, 1982 or 1987. Analyses are based on 1382 non-demented participants re-examined in 1998 after an average follow-up of 21 years. Results High midlife TC was associated with poorer late-life episodic memory and category fluency. TC decreased in most individuals over time. A more pronounced decrease was related to poorer late-life episodic memory and psychomotor speed, but not if subjects used statins. Conclusions The TC-cognition relationship seems bidirectional. High midlife TC is associated with poorer late-life cognition, but decreasing TC after midlife may reflect poorer cognitive status. Statins may be beneficial for cognition in non-demented elderly.

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APA 7th

Solomon, A., Kåreholt, I., Ngandu, T., Wolozin, B., Macdonald, S. W., Winblad, B., et al. (2009). Serum total cholesterol, statins and cognition in non-demented elderly. Neurobiology of aging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.09.012

Vancouver

Solomon A, Kåreholt I, Ngandu T, Wolozin B, Macdonald SW, Winblad B, et al. Serum total cholesterol, statins and cognition in non-demented elderly. Neurobiology of aging. 2009. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.09.012. PMID: 18022292.

BibTeX

@article{solomon2009-18022292,
  author  = {Solomon, A. and Kåreholt, I. and Ngandu, T. and Wolozin, B. and Macdonald, S. W. and Winblad, B. and Nissinen, A. and Tuomilehto, J. and others},
  title   = {{Serum total cholesterol, statins and cognition in non-demented elderly}},
  journal = {Neurobiology of aging},
  year    = {2009},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.09.012},
  pmid    = {18022292},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.09.012}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a trial. Participants are assigned to a treatment or a comparison, so the key questions are who was enrolled, whether the comparison group got a placebo or nothing, how long people were followed, and whether the result is on a measure that matters to patients or on a biomarker. Open-label and small trials can overstate benefit.
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 low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. 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

Results High midlife TC was associated with poorer late-life episodic memory and category fluency.
High midlife TC is associated with poorer late-life cognition, but decreasing TC after midlife may reflect poorer cognitive status.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 62/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported 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 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 62 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neurobiology of aging)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design	11 / 12	A randomized controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2009 — 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	3 / 3	Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study)
Randomized / blinded	1 / 2	Randomized (as stated in the record)
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 18022292)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	36 / 58	Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 62 out of 100.
Total	62 / 100	—

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