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Statins and the risk of dementia
Jick H, Zornberg GL, Jick SS, Seshadri S, Drachman DA.. Lancet (London, England), 2000-11-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Dementia affects an estimated 10% of the population older than 65 years. Because vascular and lipid-related mechanisms are thought to have a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, we did an epidemiological study of the potential effect of HMGCoA (3 hydroxy-3methylglutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors (statins) and other lipid-lowering agents on dementia. Methods We used a nested case-control design with information derived from 368 practices which contribute to the UK-based General Practice Research Database. The base study population included three groups of patients age 50 years and older: all individuals who had received lipid-lowering agents (LLAs); all individuals with a clinical diagnosis of untreated hyperlipidaemia; and a randomly selected group of other individuals. From this base population, all cases with a computer-recorded clinical diagnosis of dementia were identified. Each case was matched with up to four controls derived from the base population on age, sex, practice, and index date of case. Findings The study encompassed 284 cases with dementia and 1080 controls. Among controls 13% had untreated hyperlipidaemia, 11% were prescribed statins, 7% other LLAs, and 69% had no hyperlipidaemia or LLA exposure. The relative risk estimates of dementia adjusted for age, sex, history of coronary-artery disease, hypertension, coronary-bypass surgery and cerebral ischaemia, smoking and body mass index for individuals with untreated hyperlipidaemia (odds ratio 0.72 [95% CI 0.45-1.14]), or treated with nonstatin LLAs (0.96 [0.47-1.97], was close to 1.0 and not significant compared with people who had no diagnosis of hyperlipidaemia or exposure to other lipid-lowering drugs. The adjusted relative risk for those prescribed statins was 0.29 (0.13-0.63; p=0.002). Interpretation Individuals of 50 years and older who were prescribed statins had a substantially lowered risk of developing dementia, independent of the presence or absence of untreated hyperlipidaemia, or exposure to nonstatin LLAs. The available data do not distinguish between Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Jick, H., Zornberg, G. L., Jick, S. S., Seshadri, S., & Drachman, D. A. (2000). Statins and the risk of dementia. Lancet (London, England). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(00)03155-x
Vancouver
Jick H, Zornberg GL, Jick SS, Seshadri S, Drachman DA. Statins and the risk of dementia. Lancet (London, England). 2000. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)03155-x. PMID: 11089820.
BibTeX
@article{jick2000-11089820,
author = {Jick, H. and Zornberg, G. L. and Jick, S. S. and Seshadri, S. and Drachman, D. A.},
title = {{Statins and the risk of dementia}},
journal = {Lancet (London, England)},
year = {2000},
doi = {10.1016/s0140-6736(00)03155-x},
pmid = {11089820},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(00)03155-x}
}
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Key findings
- The relative risk estimates of dementia adjusted for age, sex, history of coronary-artery disease, hypertension, coronary-bypass surgery and cerebral ischaemia, smoking and body mass index for individuals with untreated hyperlipidaemia (odds ratio 0.72 [95% CI 0.45-1.14]), or treated with nonstatin LLAs (0.96 [0.47-1.97], was close to 1.0 and not significant compared with people who had no diagnosis of hyperlipidaemia or exposure to other lipid-lowering drugs.
Why it matters
In UK GP records covering 284 people with dementia and 1,080 matched controls aged 50 and over, people prescribed statins had a lower risk of a dementia diagnosis (adjusted relative risk 0.29, 95% CI 0.13–0.63). People taking other cholesterol-lowering drugs, and people with untreated high cholesterol, showed no significant difference. This is an observational case-control study, so it shows an association rather than proof that statins prevent dementia, and the authors note their data could not separate Alzheimer's disease from other dementias.
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Study details
- Study designcase-control study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 68/100
Published in a top-tier journal, and it is a case-control study. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 68 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Lancet (London, England)) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | The Lancet: journal h-index 1,205 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 6 / 12 | A case-control study |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2000 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,766 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 63.1 citations a year over 28 year(s) since 2000 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 121.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 78 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 47 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author DA Drachman holds only 7 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11089820) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 65 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 68 out of 100. |
| Total | 68 / 100 | — |
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