Neurological disorders (
Alzheimer's disease, vascular and
mixed dementia) and visual loss (
cataract,
age-related macular degeneration,
glaucoma, and
diabetic retinopathy) are among the most common conditions that afflict people of at least 65 years of age. An increasing body of evidence is emerging, which demonstrates that memory and vision impairment are closely, significantly, and positively linked and that
statins and
aspirin may lessen the risk of developing age-related visual and neurological problems. However, clinical studies have produced contradictory results. Thus, the intent of the present study was to reliably establish whether a relationship exist between various types of
dementia and age-related
vision disorders, and to establish whether
statins and
aspirin may or may not have beneficial effects on these two types of disorders. We found that participants with
dementia and/or vision problems were more likely to be depressed and displayed worse functional ability in basic and instrumental
activities of daily living than controls. Mini mental state examination scores were significantly lower in patients with
vision disorders compared to subjects without
vision disorders. A closer association with
macular degeneration was found in subjects with
Alzheimer's disease than in subjects without
dementia or with
vascular dementia,
mixed dementia, or other types of age-related
vision disorders. When we considered the associations between different types of
dementia and
vision disorders and the use of
statins and
aspirin, we found a significant positive association between
Alzheimer's disease and
statins on their own or in combination with
aspirin, indicating that these two drugs do not appear to reduce the risk of
Alzheimer's disease or improve its clinical evolution and may, on the contrary, favor its development. No significant association in
statin use alone,
aspirin use alone, or the combination of these was found in subjects without
vision disorders but with
dementia, and, similarly, none in subjects with
vision disorders but without
dementia. Overall, these results confirm the general impression so far; namely, that
macular degeneration may contribute to
cognitive disorders (
Alzheimer's disease in particular). In addition, they also suggest that, while
statin and
aspirin use may undoubtedly have some protective effects, they do not appear to be magic pills against the development of
cognitive impairment or
vision disorders in the elderly.