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According to a study, in addition to treating heart disease, statins can also be used to prevent the development of a neurodegenerative disease, as cholesterol-lowering drugs.
According to researchers at Queen Mary University in London (QMUL), high cholesterol levels could be a potential risk factor for the development of motor neuron disease (MND) – an uncurable disease that affects the brain and nerves. also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Symptoms include weakness, indistinct language, difficulty swallowing food, muscle cramps and more. In some cases, people have experienced changes in their thoughts and behaviors.
"We found that higher levels of LDL cholesterol (the" bad "cholesterol) were causally linked to an increased risk of contracting the disease," said Alastair Noyce, of the university.
"We have established medications that can lower cholesterol and we should check if they could protect against this terrible disease, which currently has no cure," added Noyce.
For the study, published in the journal "Annals of Neurology", the team of researchers conducted a search of genetic databases of about 25 million people to determine the risk factors for the development of ALS. In addition to the causative effect of high cholesterol, they also discovered genetic badociations with smoking, a lower level of academic achievement, and an increased risk of ALS. While low exercise levels were badociated with a protective effect, more aggressive exercises were badociated with increased risk.
However, among these findings, only high cholesterol was clearly identified as a modifiable factor that could be targeted to reduce the risk of MND. The researchers said that statins, if clinically tested, could be used to prevent the development of MND.
"The next steps will be to investigate whether lowering cholesterol levels could have a protective effect against MND and to evaluate the use of cholesterol-modifying drugs in people at risk of MND," he said. Noyce.
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First published: February 18, 2019 13:40 IST
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