Aspirin and cholesterol drugs linked to fewer dementia diagnoses
Among 347,128 people followed for a median 7.94 years, 2.4% developed dementia; aspirin and cholesterol-lowering drugs were linked to fewer diagnoses in high-risk people.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Cohort study of 347,128 people in a cardiovascular primary prevention registry, median 7.94 years
- What changed:
- Moderate- to high-dose cholesterol-lowering therapy was linked to fewer dementia diagnoses in high-risk people (hazard ratio 0.85)
- The catch:
- Medication users could differ in underlying health or medical care despite adjustment
- In the record:
- The 159th paper on aspirin with results in people; 314 on record in all. Its result on dementia agrees with 3 of 4 other findings on record; 1 found no change.
- Why it’s aging research:
- It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
People in a large health care network’s registry for preventing first cardiovascular events—347,128 in total—were studied in an observational analysis. The analysis examined cardiovascular risk, medication use and dementia diagnoses. Over a median 7.94 years, 2.4% developed dementia and 2.0% developed Alzheimer’s dementia.
Higher starting risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which involves plaque buildup in arteries, was associated with more diagnoses of both conditions after statistical adjustment. Among people at high cardiovascular risk, low- and high-dose aspirin use were associated with fewer diagnoses of both conditions. However, the range of likely values for low-dose aspirin’s association with dementia included no difference. Moderate- to high-dose cholesterol-lowering therapy was also associated with fewer dementia and Alzheimer’s dementia diagnoses in high-risk people.
Why it matters
Dementia and cardiovascular disease share risk factors, raising the question of whether medicines used to prevent cardiovascular disease might also help prevent dementia as people age.
Caveats
Medication users may have differed in underlying health or medical care in ways the adjusted analysis did not capture. These associations do not show that starting either medication would prevent dementia.
Where the evidence stands
Aspirin
- 95 independent labs in 25 countries
- 68 findings against
- 578 trials, 217 with no results posted
- Funders: National Institutes of Health and others
- 64 of 339 findings with company ties
- 39 of 578 trials sponsored by its developers
Antiplatelet
- 3 trials
Aspirin is part of David Sinclair's daily regimen in Lifespan
The paper
Impact of Statin and Aspirin Use on Dementia Diagnosis Stratified by Cardiovascular Risk
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Journal of the American Heart Association, Nov 7, 2026
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