High Cholesterol Can Impair Cognitive Function

A study has found that in addition to contributing to heart disease, high levels of cholesterol can increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (CA, USA), the study was published in the March 2002 issue of Archives of Neurology.

The researchers analyzed data retrospectively on 1,037 women who had participated in a clinical trial of hormone replacement, since the trial had collected data on cholesterol levels and tests of cognitive function. The women had completed tasks that measured their abilities in memory, attention, language, orientation, and visual-spatial skills. Women with the highest low-density lipoprotein levels and those with the highest total cholesterol levels had significantly poorer test scores. In addition, women whose cholesterol levels decreased over the four years of the study were less likely to suffer from cognitive impairment. Those women who used statins to lower their cholesterol scored higher on cognitive tests.

The researchers say this study and others have shown that statins may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. They also speculate that cholesterol may promote the clumping of the beta-amyloid protein believed to damage the brain in Alzheimer's patients.

"The higher cholesterol these women had, the worse they did on cognitive testing,” said Kristine Yaffe, M.D., UCSF assistant professor of psychology, neurology, and epidemiology. "And using statins, which reduce cholesterol, seemed to be beneficial to their performance on these tests.” However, she said people should not be taking statins to prevent Alzheimer's until more research is done.




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