The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning about a possible connection between statin drugs and reversible cognitive impairment, such as dementia (including Alzheimer’s), memory, attention, and mental processing speed. If you heard about those FDA warnings—and a lot of people did—you may have been tempted to stop taking the drugs. Don’t.
In a comprehensive review of a huge number of studies, researchers from Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania were unable to find anything that could support the FDA’s claims. The researchers, led by Karl Richardson, pointed out that there are very few controlled, randomized studies of the effects of statins on the brain, and recommend that we need to do more—and better—studies before jumping to any conclusions about the safety of statin drugs. “Published data do not suggest an adverse effect of statins on cognition.”
Statins have been remarkably successful in reducing people’s cholesterol levels, which in turn reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. So before you stop taking those drugs, talk it over with your medical provider or the person who prescribed them in the first place.
