A RAY OF HOPE FOR DEMENTIA:

High Dose Statins Prevents Dementia, Study Suggests...

What is Dementia? What Causes Dementia? Symptoms of Dementia

The word dementia comes from the Latinde meaning "apart" and mens from the genitive mentis meaning "mind". Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function - the ability to process thought (intelligence).

Dementia is a non-specific syndrome in which affected areas of brain function may be affected, such as memory, language, problem solving and attention. Dementia, unlike Alzheimer's, is not a disease in itself. When dementia appears the higher mental functions of the patient are involved initially. Eventually, in the later stages, the person may not know what day of the week, month or year it is, he may not know where he is, and might not be able to identify the people around him. 

What are the symptoms of dementia?

• Memory loss - the patient may forget his way back home from the shops. He may forget names and places. He may find it hard to remember what happened earlier on during the day.
• Memory loss - the patient may forget his way back home from the shops. He may forget names and places. He may find it hard to remember what happened earlier on during the day.
• Communicative difficulties - the affected person finds it harder to talk read and/or write.

There are two main categories of dementia

• Cortical Dementia - The cerebral cortex is affected. This is the outer layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is vital for cognitive processes, such as language and memory. Alzheimer's disease is a form of cortical dementia, as is CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).
• Cortical Dementia - The cerebral cortex is affected. This is the outer layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is vital for cognitive processes, such as language and memory. Alzheimer's disease is a form of cortical dementia, as is CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

Why is it important to get a diagnosis?

An early diagnosis can help people with dementia get the right treatment and support, and help those close to them to prepare and plan for the future. With treatment and support, many people are able to lead active, fulfilled lives.

High Dose Statins Prevents Dementia

Aug. 31, 2013 — High doses of statins prevent dementia in older people, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Dr. Tin-Tse Lin from Taiwan. The study of nearly 58,000 patients found that high potency statins had the strongest protective effects against dementia.

Accordingly, the current study examined whether statin use was associated with new diagnoses of dementia. The researchers used a random sample of 1 million patients covered by Taiwan's National Health Insurance. From this they identified 57,669 patients aged >65 years who had no history of dementia in 1997 and 1998. The analysis included pre-senile and senile dementia but excluded vascular dementia.

Dr Lin continued: "The results were consistent when analysing daily doses of different kinds of statins. Almost all the statins (except lovastatin) decreased the risk for new onset dementia when taken at higher daily doses. A high mean daily dosage of lovastatin was positively associated with the development of dementia, possibly because lovastatin is a lipophilic statin while the anti-inflammatory cholesterol lowering effect of lovastatin is not comparable to that of atorvastatin and simvastatin."

1. Equivalent dosages are used when comparing the effects of different drugs. Each statin was assigned an appropriate equivalent dose according to the following formula: lovastatin 40mg = pravastatin 40mg = simvastatin 20mg = atorvastatin 10mg = fluvastatin 80mg = rosuvastatin 5mg.

SHAILESH KR SHUKLA

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