"OBJECTIVE: To examine the longitudinal association between plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and incident dementia. METHODS: Neuropsychiatric, anthropometric, laboratory, and other assessments were conducted for 392 participants of a 1901 to 1902 birth cohort first examined at age 70. Follow-up examinations were at ages 75, 79, 81, 83, 85, and 88. Information on those lost to follow-up was collected from case records, hospital linkage system, and death certificates. Cox proportional hazards regression examined lipid levels at ages 70, 75, and 79 and incident dementia between ages 70 and 88. RESULTS: Increasing cholesterol levels (per mmol/L) at ages 70 (hazard ratio [HR] 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61 to 0.96, p = 0.02), 75 (HR 0.70, CI: 0.52 to 0.93, p = 0.01), and 79 (HR 0.73, CI: 0.55 to 0.98, p = 0.04) were associated with a reduced risk of dementia between ages 79 and 88. Examination of cholesterol levels in quartiles showed that the
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