Prior data on the use of statin drugs and risk of acute memory impairment has been inconsistent.\u00a0 In this study, Strom and colleagues sought to investigate use of statins in association with acute memory impairment and compare results to non-users and users of non-statin lipid lowering drugs (LLDs).\u00a0 The authors performed a retrospective cohort study through The Health Improvement Network database (composed of primary medical records from general practitioners in the United Kingdom) identifying 482,543 patients with newly prescribed statin drugs without underlying cognitive dysfunction or dementia.\u00a0 Propensity-matched control groups included 482,543 non-users of any LLDs and 26,484 users of non-statin LLDs.\u00a0 The primary outcome of the analysis was the onset of acute, reversible memory impairment as determined by review of diagnosis codes. Exposure to statins was strongly associated with incident acute memory loss within 30 days of first use compared to matched non-users of LLDs (OR 4.40, CI 3.01-6.41).\u00a0 The relationship persisted for users of non-statin LLDs compared to non-users (OR 3.60, CI 1.34-9.70) but was not reproduced in comparing statins with non-statin LLDs (OR 1.03, CI 0.63-1.66).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n