A new study has found evidence that suggests use of statins, commonly used in the regulation of cholesterol levels, may be associated with a reduction in cognitive decline in the elderly.

Researchers in the Cardiovascular Health Study Collaborative Research Group monitored the cognitive abilities of 3,334 people over the age of 65 without dementia for an average of seven years and found that regular statin use was associated with a rate of cognitive decline less than half of that of untreated patients.

These new results published in medical journal Neurology follow on from other positive results concerning Alzheimer’s disease and statin drugs which were released recently. In the first study, statins were found to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in a new three-year study of 342 patients.