Health security

Study suggests statins linked to lower dementia risk

Some cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, appear to be linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease in certain people, suggested a study out Monday.

However, not all patients benefited, and the report stopped short of establishing any cause and effect, so experts said rigorous clinical trials are needed to further explore the issue.

The research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology was based on an analysis of the medical records of nearly 400,000 people in the United States.

Researchers at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles examined use of the four most commonly prescribed statins: simvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin and rosuvastatin...