Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Apr 26;64(8):1378-83.
doi: 10.1212/01.WNL.0000158274.31318.3C.

Impact of plasma lipids and time on memory performance in healthy elderly without dementia

C Reitz  1 , J Luchsinger, M-X Tang, J Manly, R Mayeux
Affiliations

Impact of plasma lipids and time on memory performance in healthy elderly without dementia

C Reitz et al. Neurology. .

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association of plasma lipid levels to changes in cognitive function in elderly subjects without dementia.

Methods: The authors examined changes in performance in tests of memory, visuospatial/cognitive, and language abilities in 1,147 elderly individuals without dementia or cognitive impairment at baseline followed for 7 years using generalized estimating equations.

Results: Performance in all cognitive domains declined significantly over time, while there was no association between levels of any plasma lipid or lipid lowering treatment and memory, cognitive/visuospatial, or language performance at any interval. Higher age at baseline was related to lower scores in all three domains at each interval, while higher education and white ethnicity were associated with higher scores in all domains. Analyses relating plasma lipids to performance in color trails tests using proportional hazards regression showed no association. In subsequent analyses excluding subjects with incident dementia, memory performance declined over time, while cognitive/visuospatial and language performance did not. Higher plasma high density lipoprotein and total cholesterol were associated with higher scores in language performance at baseline; this domain declined faster among individuals with higher total cholesterol, but this result was not significant after taking multiple comparisons into account. Plasma triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, or treatment with lipid lowering agents were not associated with changes in cognitive performance.

Conclusions: Plasma lipid levels or treatment with lipid lowering agents in the elderly were not associated with changes in cognitive function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Description of Sample Size.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fratiglioni L, De Ronchi D, Aguero-Torres H. Worldwide prevalence and incidence of dementia. Drugs Aging. 1999;15(5):365–375. - PubMed
    1. American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2004 Update. Dallas TAHA:
    1. Kuriyama M, Takahashi K, Yamano T, et al. Low levels of serum apolipoprotein A I and A II in senile dementia. Jpn J Psychiatry Neurol. 1994;48(3):589–593. - PubMed
    1. Muckle TJ, Roy JR. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol in differential diagnosis of senile dementia. Lancet. 1985;1(8439):1191–1193. - PubMed
    1. Kuriyama M, Hokezu Y, Togo S, et al. Serum lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in patients with senile dementia. Nippon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi. 1992;29(7–8):559–564. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms