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The prevalence of dementia among the elderly is high, and it is the leading cause of death globally. However, the relationship between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk has produced inconsistent results, necessitating an updated review of the evidence. To address this, we conducted an umbrella review of meta-analyses to summarize the available evidence on the association between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk and evaluate its credibility. We systematically evaluated the meta-analyses of observational studies that examined the connection between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk. For each meta-analysis, we collected the overall effect size, heterogeneity, risk of bias, and year of the most recent article and graded the evidence based on pre-specified criteria. We also used AMSTAR, a measurement tool to evaluate systematic reviews, to assess the methodological quality of each study. Our review included five meta-analyses encompassing 30 studies, and the effect size of the association between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk ranged from 1.38 to 1.78. Nonetheless, the evidence supporting this relationship was weak, and the methodological quality of the studies included was low. In conclusion, our findings revealed limited evidence of a link between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk, and more research is required to determine a causal connection. Physicians should only prescribe benzodiazepine for appropriate indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous epidemiological studies have reported that the use of statins is associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer, although the beneficial effects of statins on the reduction of gastric cancer remain unclear. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between the use of statins and the risk of gastric cancer. Electronic databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched between 1 January 2000 and 31 August 2022. Two authors used predefined selection criteria to independently screen all titles, abstracts, and potential full texts. Observational studies (cohort and case-control) or randomized control trials that assessed the association between statins and gastric cancer were included in the primary and secondary analyses. The pooled effect sizes were calculated using the random-effects model. The Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) reporting guidelines were followed to conduct this study. The total sample size across the 20 included studies was 11,870,553. The use of statins was associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer (RRadjusted: 0.72; 95%CI: 0.64–0.81, p < 0.001). However, the effect size of statin use on the risk of gastric cancer was lower in Asian studies compared to Western studies (RRAsian: 0.62; 95%CI: 0.53–0.73 vs. RRwestern: 0.88; 95%CI: 0.79–0.99). These findings suggest that the use of statins is associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer. This reverse association was even stronger among Asian people than Western individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential impact of statins on the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) is still controversial; therefore, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of observational studies to examine the effect of statin use on the risk of PD. We searched electronic databases, such as PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science, for articles published between 1 January 2000 and 15 March 2022. Cohort studies which examined the association between statins and PD risk in the general population were also included. Two authors assessed the data and extracted all potential information for analysis. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to measure the risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Eighteen cohort studies including 3.7 million individuals with 31,153 PD participants were identified. In statin users, compared with non-users, the RR for PD was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.68–0.91). In a subgroup analysis of PD, this association was observed with medium and high quality, and the studies were adjusted for age, gender, and smoking status. When the data were stratified according to the duration of exposure, long-duration statin use was associated with a decreased risk of PD (RR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.26–0.92). There was no significant decrease in the risk of PD in short-term statin users (RR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.67–1.31). Moreover, no significant difference in the reduction in the risk of PD was observed between men (RR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.75–0.86) and women (RR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.75–0.86). Although our findings confirm a reduction in the PD risk associated with statin treatment and suggest that statins play a clinically favorable role, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Future randomized control trials with an ad hoc design are needed to confirm the potential utility of statins in reducing the risk of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]