(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Drugs commonly used to fight cholesterol may also ward off dementia and memory loss.

A new study shows those who take statins are half as likely to develop dementia as those who don't take them. For five years, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, followed 1,674 dementia-free Mexican Americans over age 60. Of the group, 27 percent took a statin drug and 130 people developed dementia or cognitive impairment.

"We aren't suggesting that people should take statins unless they are necessary for other reasons," Mary N. Haan, Dr.P.H., study author of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, was quoted as saying. "We hope this study and others like it will open the door to trials that would test the ability of statins to prevent dementia and other types of cognitive impairment."

The statins the participants took included atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, rosuvavstatin and simvastatin. Headaches, nausea, fever and muscle pain are the most common side effects of the drugs.

SOURCE: Neurology, 2008;71:344-350

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