Statin Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs and the Mind

[ofonorow]

“Statins: Commonly taken for high cholesterol, when the irony is that cholesterol problems derive from the liver and statins worsen the liver condition, elevating cholesterol even more, although the medication hides this.” Anthony William Medical Medium

The following is from Fife's STOP ALZHEIMER'S NOW!

STATINS

The statins are the most profitable prescription drugs of all time, generating billions of dollars a year in profits for drug manufacturers. While they are touted as safe, they have a long list of troublesome side effects including

digestive problems,
muscle degeneration and pain,
liver failure,
kidney failure,
mental deterioration, and brain damage leading to memory loss,
mood swings, and
behavioral changes.

Next to muscle pain, the most frequently reported side effect to statin therapy is cognitive problems..

The most popular statins are Lipitor, Crestor, Pravachol, Zocor, and Mevacor, with Lipitor being by far the most commonly prescribed. Another statin, Baycol, was pulled off the market in 2001 because of an alarming number of users suffered from severe muscle wasting, kidney failure, and death.

Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, heads the Statin Study Group at the University of California at San Diego. Her group is actively researching the side effects of statin medications. She has collected thousands of case reports from patients about statin side effects. She says common complaints from patients taking statins include being unable to remember the name of a grandchild, walking into a room and forgetting why you are there, or starting a sentence and being unable to finish. Some complain of personality changes or irritability.

One typical example is 69-year-old Jane Brunzie. Brunzie was so forgetful that her daughter was investigating Alzheimer’s care for her and refused to let her babysit her 9-year-old granddaughter. Then Brunzie stopped taking the statins. “Literally, within eight days, I was back to normal—it was that dramatic,” says Brunzie. Doctors put her on different statins three more times. “They’d say, ‘Here, try these samples.’ Doctors don’t want to give up on it,” she says. “Within a few days of starting another one, I’d start losing my words again,” says Brunzie. With a clear mind she has gone back to volunteering at the local elementary school she loves. “I feel very blessed—I got about 99 percent of my memory back,” she adds. “But I worry about people like me who are starting to lose their words who may think they have just normal aging and it may not be.”

While all the statins carry the risk of neurological problems, the most popular statin, Lipitor, appears to be the most troublesome in this regard. Memory problems can occur within five days after taking a statin drug but may not surface until after several years of statin therapy. Memory loss can occur suddenly, causing complete amnesia accompanied by confusion and disorientation. After discontinuing the drug, memory may return. However, in some cases cognitive problems may continue indefinitely.

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! (pp. 82-83). Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

[ofonorow]

More from Dr. Fife's STOP ALZHEIMER'S NOW book.

Despite these facts, many studies were carried out to try to prove the cholesterol hypothesis. After more than five decades of research, there has yet to be a study that proves that eating saturated fat and cholesterol causes heart disease.2

Lowering high blood cholesterol through diet or drugs does not save lives. A team of researchers led by Dr. Gregg Fonarow, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, published a study in 2009 that showed that 75 percent of patients hospitalized for heart attacks have normal to below normal cholesterol levels.9 This study confirms Dr. DeBakey’s earlier study. In this study, Dr. Fonarow’s team analyzed data from 136,905 patients hospitalized for heart attacks nationwide between 2000 and 2006 where lipid levels upon hospital admission were documented. Twenty-one percent were taking cholesterol-lowering medication. The drugs apparently didn’t help; despite lowering their cholesterol to within a “healthy” range, they still suffered heart attacks. Eighteen percent had cholesterol levels that would be considered “ideal” or lowest in risk, yet they still suffered heart attacks. Having low or very low cholesterol did not save them.[

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! (pp. 145-146). Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

For the cells to function properly, an ample amount of cholesterol needs to be available. Cholesterol must be continually supplied to form new cells and repair damaged tissues. For example, when an injury occurs within a blood vessel, cholesterol is used to repair the damage. If the injury becomes chronic, as in the case of an artery beset by chronic inflammation, cholesterol, along with protein and calcium, is laid down repeatedly. This can lead to the formation of the plaque characteristic of atherosclerosis. Promoters of the cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease claim that since cholesterol is present, that it must be the cause the clogging in the artery. But according to the newer and more widely accepted response-to-injury hypothesis, the cholesterol didn’t cause the plaque, it was part of the repair process that is trying to fix the problem. It is the chronic inflammation that caused the cholesterol, as well as the protein and calcium, to be deposited and the amount of plaque deposited has absolutely no relationship to the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

Cholesterol also functions as the precursor for a number of vital hormones. All of the steroid hormones start out as cholesterol, including pregnenolone, aldosterone, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, and others. These hormones regulate sexual differentiation and behavior; mediate menstrual cycle and pregnancy; regulate the excretion of salt and water by kidneys; affect carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism; and influence a wide variety of other vital functions including inflammatory reactions and the capacity to cope with stress. It is cholesterol that makes you who you are and keeps your body running smoothly. Bile, too, gets its start as cholesterol. Bile is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. When we eat a meal, bile is released into the digestive tract to emulsify dietary fats and fat soluble nutrients and facilitate their digestion and assimilation. Without bile we could not digest fats, which are necessary for proper health. Vitamin D is manufactured in our bodies as sunlight interacts with the cholesterol in our skin. Vitamin D has a multitude of functions, including immune system support and the building of strong bones and teeth. It is also needed for healthy brain function

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Cholesterol is absolutely essential for the transmission of nerve impulses and the communication between neurons. It is needed for storing and retrieving memories. The synapses—the highly specialized contacts that sits between adjacent neurons in the brain—depend on cholesterol for their function.21 New synaptic vesicles are continually being formed in order to maintain multiple nerve transmissions. In order to accomplish this, there must be ample cholesterol available to construct the vesicles. If adequate cholesterol is not available, the vesicles are not manufactured and nerve transmission stops. If the nerve is involved in creating a memory, then the memory will not be formed.

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! (p. 146). Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

THE DANGERS OF LOWERING CHOLESTEROL

Behavioral Changes In the mistaken belief that high blood cholesterol contributes to heart disease, cholesterol-lowering drugs are prescribed. Statins are the drugs of choice since they can lower blood cholesterol by as much as 40 percent. They do this by blocking the action of enzymes in the liver needed to produce cholesterol. Since this process disrupts normal liver function, these drugs can cause serious damage. Liver damage is one of the most well-documented and recognized side effects of statin use. Therefore, those who take statins must be monitored closely by their doctors. Patients are given liver function tests periodically to make sure the drugs are not destroying their livers. Those patients who already have liver problems or have a history of moderate to high alcohol consumption are usually discouraged from taking statins.

Another problem with statins is that they also interfere with the production of cholesterol in the brain. The same enzymes needed to make cholesterol in the liver are also present in the brain. If the disruption of cholesterol synthesis in the liver can lead to liver damage, what can it do to the brain? Think about it.

Cholesterol is constantly being formed to maintain, replace, and repair the cells and tissues, especially nerve tissue. Any interference with normal cholesterol synthesis can impair nerve tissue maintenance and repair, leading to neurodegeneration through neuron loss.25 Even a small depletion of cholesterol—less than 10 percent—in the neuron endings at the synapse has been shown to be enough to inhibit the release of neurotransmitters and block nerve transmission.26

Drug-induced cholesterol lowering causes a loss in brain function.27-28 A decrease in brain cholesterol is known to contribute to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.29 The effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs on brain health have been reported for decades. In the early studies that compared cholesterol-lowering drugs with placebos (dummy pills), an unexpected phenomenon quickly surfaced. While fatal heart attacks in some middle-aged men slightly declined, deaths from suicide and violence, as well as cancer, increased. The overall results showed a total increase in deaths among the drug users compared to those without. Those subjects who were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs reported a significant increase in depression, irritability, and aggression that apparently led to increased incidences of suicides and violent deaths. Researchers brushed these findings aside, claiming they were simply the result of chance. The studies were repeated with larger numbers of subjects. The results were the same: increased deaths due to suicide and violence.30-31 In none of these studies was the difference significantly large, but all pointed in the same direction—lowering cholesterol disrupted normal mental processes.

Dr. Matthew Muldoon, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, did not believe these deaths were just a coincidence. He and colleagues at the university analyzed all the studies that reported violent deaths and found that they were indeed very significant.32 They also showed that the rate of death from violence and suicide in the control groups were identical with the rate of the country in general, while in the group taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs the rate was twice as high. This was a heavy blow to the drug industry, who continued to downplay the significance of these side effects to lowering cholesterol.

The conclusions of Muldoon and colleagues were strengthened by a large investigation in Sweden headed by Dr. Gunnar Lindberg. They measured blood cholesterol levels in more than 50,000 men and women and then kept track of them for 20 years. During the first six years, 20 men with cholesterol below 207 mg/dl (5.4 mmol/l) committed suicide. Yet only five with cholesterol above 296 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/l) committed suicide.33 The suicide rate was much higher early in the study when the drop in cholesterol levels was the greatest. The authors concluded that the increased risk of suicide may be associated with reducing cholesterol too far below the subject’s normal or genetic set point. They pointed out that if a person’s natural cholesterol level is low then there is little risk of suicide, but the risk is great if the low cholesterol is induced by extreme dieting or drugs.

Cognitive Decline In addition to behavioral changes, a number of studies have shown a link between drug-induced cholesterol lowering and a decline in cognitive ability.34-37 Not everyone who takes statins complains of memory loss, depression, or other neurological symptoms. However, everyone who uses statins is adversely affected to some degree. This was demonstrated by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The investigators took 209 healthy adults and randomly assigned them to one of two groups. The treatment group was placed on statins and the control group on placebos. At the beginning of the study cognitive performance and psychological well-being of each participant was carefully assessed. After six months, all of the patients on placebos showed a measurable increase in cognitive function, while 100 percent of the statin patients showed a measurable decrease in cognitive function in one or more areas.38 So apparently, everyone who takes cholesterol-lowering drugs is adversely affected to some degree. Researchers have also found that depriving the brain of cholesterol sets into motion chemical changes that lead to the formation of abnormal proteins and neurofibrillatory tangles characteristic of damage seen in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.39

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! (pp. 147-149). Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

One letter read: “My husband had been taking Zocor for about 6 weeks. One day he got up from bed and couldn’t remember what day of the week it was. As the morning progressed, he couldn’t remember the month and date. He could not remember how many stocks we had and numerous other things. He nearly drove me crazy asking the same questions over and over. He became very frustrated as he basically has total recall and is known for having a very sharp mind. He could not understand how I could know the date, etc. and he could not remember at all. I thought he had some kind of stroke so I insisted that he go to the doctor. The doctor admitted him to the hospital and had numerous tests run on him including a CAT scan. A neurological doctor also did some testing. The diagnosis was transient global amnesia. The episode had lasted about eight hours. My husband took himself off Zocor and has been doing great!”

Fife, Bruce. Stop Alzheimer's Now! (p. 150). Piccadilly Books, Ltd. Kindle Edition.

[GWS]

I'm convinced that the hell I've been through the last 30 years had NOTHING to do with my lifetime (since year 16) so-called "high cholesterol"....what "hell? Heart attack 1....stents....heart attack 2.....double heart bypass.....Lipitor agave me trans global amnesia, so had to quit that..... symptoms of an approaching and imminent 3rd heart attack.....another angiogram.....news from the cardio that I had no more "plumbing" to use for another bypass, and the "widowmaker" artery 95% closed.....again).....and I can't tolerate statin treatments, period. They are worthless anyway.

......so what caused all this hell before I was saved by Linus Pauling's protocol? Nightly CALCIUM supplements....lots of calcium to treat nightly charlie horses and nervous feet that made it impossible to sleep.......no one told me about Magnesium until I found Linus Pauling's protocol, and how bad calcium was for me.....yes plenty of Tums too. Thank God for Vitamin C and Magnesium. I'm still here, and I have no high calcium score anymore, finally, and the blocked arteries are clear.

Too bad Linus Pauling didn't have as simple an answer for Neuropathy ..still searching.....DMSO hasn't helped....neither has quitting B vitamins...and so far Chlorine Dioxide neither....but I keep trying.....no choice.....this is another living hell.

BTW, Transglobal Amnesia, hit me one night while I was public speaking....ER doc said it was the Lipitor so quit immediately....and to expect two more attacks even after quitting .....he said they come in threes......he was right.....stressful situations were triggers. 2 more came in the following 3 months.....then no more ......but hell if I will EVER take Lipitor again......that was not fun....and everybody thought I was nuts....very embarrassing. Thank goodness for Vitamin C and the protocol's companion amino acids, Proline and Lysine. No....thank God, Linus Pauling and those like Mr. T. who spread his miracle cure. Yes cures are real....but you won't find them at the AMA....they only believe in "treatment's" that keep us sick and them rich.

[pamojja]

Too bad Linus Pauling didn't have as simple an answer for Neuropathy ..still searching.....DMSO hasn't helped....neither has quitting B vitamins...and so far Chlorine Dioxide neither....but I keep trying.....no choice.....this is another living hell.

Especially since you seem so stuck between a rock and hard place. Quitting B-vitamins might even be detrimental. After all, neuropathy can be a deficiency sign of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, p-5-p, biotin, and vitamin B12. See here on another forum:
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads ... st-2463335 and further down the thread

Beside of course too many other causes. Just can't imagine anything helping with neuropathy, then addressing the unknown cause. It might have been too much pyridoxine, but in this case nothing than waiting for the washout, which can take a year, will help. Or you could try to address as many as possible causes of neuropathy in the meanwhile, while waiting. From Wikipedia:

The causes are grouped broadly as follows:

• Ribose-5-Phosphate Isomerase Deficiency
• Surgery: LASIK (corneal neuropathy — 20 to 55% of people).[35]
• Genetic diseases: Friedreich's ataxia, Fabry disease,[36] Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease,[37] hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy
• Hyperglycemia-induced formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs)[14][38][39]
• Metabolic and endocrine diseases: diabetes mellitus,[36] chronic kidney failure, porphyria, amyloidosis, liver failure, hypothyroidism[40]
• Idiopathic peripheral neuropathy refers to neuropathy with no known cause.[41]
• Toxic causes: drugs (vincristine, metronidazole, phenytoin, nitrofurantoin, isoniazid, ethyl alcohol, statins),[medical citation needed] organic herbicides TCDD dioxin, organic metals, heavy metals, excess intake of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Peripheral neuropathies also may result from long term (more than 21 days) treatment with linezolid.[medical citation needed]
• Adverse effects of fluoroquinolones: irreversible neuropathy is a serious adverse reaction of fluoroquinolone drugs[42]
• Inflammatory diseases: Guillain–Barré syndrome,[36] systemic lupus erythematosus, leprosy, Sjögren's syndrome, Babesiosis, Lyme disease,[36] vasculitis,[36] sarcoidosis.[43] Multiple sclerosis may also be causal.[36][44]
• Vitamin deficiency states: Vitamin B12 (Methylcobalamin),[36] vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B1 (thiamin)
• Physical trauma: compression, automobile accident, sports injury, sports pinching, cutting, projectile injuries (for example, gunshot wound), strokes including prolonged occlusion of blood flow, electric discharge, including lightning strikes[medical citation needed]
• Effect of chemotherapy – see Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy[36]
• Exposure to Agent Orange[45]
• Others: Carpal tunnel syndrome, electric shock, HIV,[36][46] malignant disease, radiation, shingles, MGUS (Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance).[47]

Pauling indirectly advised what might work against some neuropathies, by recommending 1 or 2 good doses of B-vitamins, comprehensive supplementation and good diet.