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Statins Help Memory in Older Women

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 6, 2006

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Elderly women who use statins to lower their blood cholesterol level have better memory and learning abilities than other women, according to an article published in the Archives of Neurology.

Doctors studied about 1,000 women age 70 and up. Nearly all had heart disease and half used cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

Women who used statins had a 33 percent lower risk of memory and learning problems than those who did not. Other medications that lowered cholesterol didn't help.

In this study, women who had high LDLs -- the bad cholesterol -- had more memory problems than other women. Women who had low LDLs had fewer problems -- 40 percent less risk of learning and memory problems than other women.

In other words, statins lowered their LDLs, which can open up arteries and improve your brain function.

While these results may not apply to all women, and certainly may not apply to men, elderly women with heart disease should talk to their doctors about using statins.

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