The Link Between Statins and Dementia: Doctors Say the Meds May Protect Brain Health
Experts cut through the confusion surrounding these lifesaving meds
If you’re taking statins for high cholesterol, you may have encountered friends or family (or social media commenters) who point out a potential link to dementia. It’s enough to make anyone pause. There’s a great deal of confusion around the topic of cholesterol medications and cognition. For one, heart and brain health are often closely intertwined, and those who take statins may already be at risk for issues like memory loss. Here, we asked doctors to explain the relationship between statins and dementia—spoiler alert: they may actually reduce your risk of cognitive impairment—plus more ways to keep your mind sharp.
The link between statins and dementia
Taking statins to reduce high cholesterol levels is also important for reducing your risk of vascular dementia as well as heart attack and stroke risk.
“They are protective against one of the more devastating types of dementia, which is the type of dementia caused by stroke,” says Logan DuBose, MD, a physician and co-founder of Olera who writes about dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other age-related conditions. “This can be prevented by protection against atherosclerosis of the microvascular and vascular system, which is what statins do.”
Woman's World Answers
The confusion around this topic may come from previous studies that point to a potential link. For instance, people who started taking statins had a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with sudden memory loss within 30 days than those who didn’t take any cholesterol-lowering drugs in a 2017 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. However, those taking non-statin cholesterol drugs had the same link, meaning the effect wasn’t specific to statins.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has taken the stance that statins rarely cause any form of cognitive side effects that aren’t resolved by stopping statins. What’s more, these potential memory problems also appear to be reversible in many cases.
“Although a few studies have raised concerns that statins could actually cause memory problems, these cases appear to be rare, and memory often improves after stopping the drug,” says David Perlmutter, MD, a physician and board-certified neurologist.
Keep in mind that if your heart is healthy, your brain likely will be too. However, this could be another reason for the confusion around statins and dementia.
“People on statins often have other health problems, like high blood pressure or diabetes, that can also negatively affect the brain,” says Dr. Perlmutter. “So it’s hard to separate the effects of the statin from the effects of the underlying health issue.”
Experts say you should continue to take statins as prescribed
“Research has shown that a small number of people may experience memory side effects from lipophilic statins like atorvastatin or simvastatin, but this very minor and slightly theoretical risk should not be confused with significant dementia risk,” says Dr. DuBose.
Plus, one year of statin use was actually linked to a 20 percent decrease in dementia risk in a 2018 meta-analysis of 31 studies published in the journal Medicine.
A 2025 meta-analysis in Translational Research & Clinical Interventions echoed these findings—people who took statins had a lower risk of developing dementia than those who didn’t, with benefits particularly strong in people with type 2 diabetes, those who took statins for more than three years and Asian populations. The medication rosuvastatin (brand name Crestor) showed the strongest protective effect.
“Overall, the evidence does not support the idea that statins cause dementia,” says Dr. Perlmutter. And in fact, it could even lower your risk.
More ways statin users can reduce their dementia risk
If you’re taking a statin and want to decrease your risk of dementia further, making a few simple lifestyle changes can have the biggest impact. Here’s what our experts recommend to protect your cognitive functioning over time:
Follow a Mediterranean diet
This eating plan is rich in nuts, berries, vegetables and fish. “It helps maintain good cholesterol and lowers bad cholesterol, and has been shown to be protective against cerebrovascular damage, which is protective against dementia,” says Dr. DuBose.
Take a brisk stroll
Exercise doesn’t mean you have to hit the heavy weights at the gym. “Low-intensity, anaerobic exercise like swimming and speed walking are ideal for people of all ages to increase blood flow and increase muscle and bone health, which will be important for mobility in older age and can be protective against dementia,” says Dr. DuBose.
Catch up with friends
Invest deeply in your friends, family and hobbies with those you love. “This is critical for building a positive cognitive reserve and a meaningful life now and in the future,” says Dr. DuBose. “It protects against rapid negative cognitive decline. And people who have meaningful relationships cultivated over a lifetime have a more pleasant experience in older age, even if dementia sets in.”
Which statins may be better for brain health?
If you’re still concerned about the potential risk of statins and dementia, ask your doctor about hydrophilic statins, like pravastatin and rosuvastatin. “These do not cross the blood-brain barrier and may theoretically be better for someone concerned with statin-induced memory side effects,” says Dr. DuBose.
But again: The benefits of statins to decrease heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia risk clearly outweigh the risks. “In general, the risk of taking a statin and having any memory-related side effects or increasing dementia risk is very low and should not persuade somebody from using it,” adds Dr. DuBose.
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