Sorry but I don't think this study proved anything, they were looking for signs of dementia whereas the original problem reported was reduced cognition which I'm sure wasn't tested for as part of the studies looked at.
Do Statins Make You Stupid?
But let your doctor have their explanation of this.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAIC/40514
A meta-analysis that included more than 40,000 patients found no
indication that treatment with statins negatively impacted cognition,
researchers reported here.
In responding to FDA concerns about
possible adverse cognitive events, Brian Ott, MD, professor of medicine
at Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, said his
review of the medical literature found no statistically significant
differences in cognition between those patients on statins and patients
not taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs.
"These results raise
questions regarding the continued merit of the FDA warning about potential effects of statins on cognition," Ott told MedPage Today
at his poster presentation at the Alzheimer's Association International
Conference. "The issue has major public health implications due to
decisions by patients and physicians to discontinue statin therapy in
the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular death and morbidity."
He said that when the FDA
issued its report, "unfortunately, a lot of people took that to heart
and stopped the statins on their own. That concerned me, so I wanted to
look at the accumulated data. This is just our first look at the data
and we don't really see anything."
Ott also said the early review
did not show there were differences when it came to the type of statin,
whether lipophilic or hydrophilic.
In commenting on the study, Gus Alva, MD, medical director of the ATP Clinical Research, Inc., told MedPage Today,
"If I had a patient with high cholesterol I would always put them on
statins. However, with older patients you have to be aware of muscle
cramping that can be associated with statin use."
Ott and
colleagues reviewed medical literature on the topic of reports of
dementia or nervous system side effects in multiple clinical trials. For
example, he cited the 17,802-person Jupiter study, in which dementia
was observed in 12 (0.1%) of patients on rosuvastatin compared with 9
(0.1%) of patients on placebo. In the same study, adverse nervous system
events were reported by 69 (0.8%) patients on rosuvastatin and by 76
(0.9%) of patients on placebo.
"Among over 468 other phase 2 or
phase 3 randomized clinical trials that we reviewed, none reported
adverse cognitive events,"(but were they even checking for cognitive problems? no checking leads to no reported problems) Ott said. "Overall, our preliminary
meta-analyses of cognitive test data showed no significant effects on
global cognition or on specific cognitive domains for subjects with
normal cognition as well as those with Alzheimer's disease."
"Adverse
cognitive outcomes attributable to statins were rarely if ever reported
in randomized clinical trials," he said. "The systemic review was
consistent with prior reviews finding no significant relationship
between cognitive decline or adverse cognitive evens and the use of any
statin drug in cognitively healthy people as well as those with
dementia."
"Furthermore, the meta-analysis failed to show
significant adverse effects of statins on cognition from the combined
data in either patient group," he said. "The medical benefits of being
on a statin far outweigh the possible [advent] of cognition problems."
Primary source: Alzheimer's Association International Conference
Source reference:
Ott B, et al "Do statin drugs impair cognition? A systematic review and meta-analysis" AAIC 2013; DOI: Abstract P3-298.
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