statins and Alzheimers

[JOANIEGIRL]

Has anyone wondered if statins could be contributing to the fact that in the past 5 years Alzheimers has increased by 10%. This was according to a news report on ABC News. It seems doctors are putting everyone on Statins even if their cholesterol is normal and it seems likely to me that the increased use of Statins and the increase in Alzheimers could be related. I work in the medical field and we are seeing more and more early onset of Alzheimers. Just a thought after listening to these news reports

[Biologist]

JOANIEGIRL,

I saw that news report too on NBC yesterday and was thinking exactly the same thing.

Huge bucks to be made on this new problem too.

Biologist

[carbuffmom]

Alzheimers, Parkinsons, MS, and ALS are all on the rise. Babyboomers or statin drugs????? My bet would be on the drugs...

[SusieO]

My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimers less than a year ago. I really don't have much contact with him, so I am not sure if he takes a statin.

I know I had and still have some memory problems from taking Lipitor. My problem is the type where I can see the word in my mind, but it doesn't come out or I may not be able to think of the word or I say a word that is the totally wrong word i.e. I may say fly swatter for toaster just as an example. Also, my memory of dates and things that happened in the past is really not that great.

My Mom is on a statin and has the same sort of memory problems that I have. I know she should stop the statin, but she feels it isn't hurting her and her doctor said she needs to keep taking it. She sees and knows how much damage it has done to me, but still feels it must be helping her since she has no muscle damage (yet).

[catspajamas]

I am a avid puzzle doer....towards the end of the time I was on zocor I started noticing small memory things...like looking up something in a cookbook or reading directions and then not remembering what I read..then I noticed I couldn't concentrate enough to do my puzzles or even follow a story line on television....that is really scary..thank goodness in the 7 years I have been off zocor my memory is back to where it was pre statin. My cousins mom was diagnosed with altzheimers too...she started complaining of her legs hurting..I asked him if she was on a statin...yes..he stopped the statin and he even thinks her memory has improved some along with less achy muscles..Can you tell me why a dr would keep a 85 yr old woman on statins in the 1st place?.....I know the reason and its spelled...money.......

[Biologist]

A good thread to read:

"Low cholesterol predisposes to Alzheimers?"

http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=34#34

Here's a quote from it:

"Imagine, excessive inhibition of cholesterol because of
statin drug use the real cause of the amnesia that
prompted me to research this field five years ago.
Statin drugs have their problems but even in my book,
“Statin Drug Side Effectsâ€

[Biologist]

Here is a quote from the second post in the thread I cited above:

"'We're able to show that insulin impairment
happens early in the disease,' de la Monte said.
'We're able to show it's linked to major neuro-
transmitters responsible for cognition. We're
able to show it's linked to poor energy meta-
bolism, and it's linked to abnormalities that
contribute to the tangles characteristic of
advanced Alzheimer's disease. This work ties
several concepts together and demonstrates
that Alzheimer's disease is quite possibly a
Type 3 diabetes,' she said."

This presents a good opportunity for me to correct a recently verified error of mine regarding the synthisis of neurotransmitters. I previously wrote the following at this URL:

http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=3616#3616

"Reuptake inhibitors, as you are likely aware,
are the drug class that keep neurotransmitters
free and available in the vicinity of the synaptic
junctions. Serotonin is one such transmitter,
but I believe there are several others.
Serotonin, unless I am mistaken, is manufactor-
ed on-site from cholesterol, which is inhibited
on-site by lipophilic statins (e.g., Zocor)."
--Biologist

I was mistaken. While adequate cholesterol is doubtlessly necessary for such synthesis, it does not appear to be any direct precursor for serotonin.

Biologist

[Biologist]

Wow. While I'm making corrections, I should have read the next paragraph in that post of mine I hyperlinked to above. Here it is:

"I think Zocor users may have central nervous
system issues (in addition to the common
peripheral nervous system issues -- like pain
in the feet that about everyone gets, including
me) due to its availability to the brain itself via
crossing the blood brain barrier. (They say
some statins, like Lipitor, do not have direct
access to the brain and maybe the spinal cord
either -- the whole of the central nervous
system.) Your thoughts on depression fall right
in line, and depression can cause serious
fatigue."
--Biologist

Lipitor, as pointed out to me recently by another poster in another post, is in fact a lipophilic statin (which explains why to two act so similarly against the central nervous system).

My bad.

Biologist

[catspajamas]

I know zocor did my entire nervous system in....besides the damaged nerves in my feet, it damaged nerves in my ears, I got shingles and a tumor on a nerve in my foot and generally was a very irritable nervous person.accelerated growth of cataract...I had to have cataract surgery and the tumor taken off the nerve in between my toes...left me with 3 numb toes.,..a ulcerated colon because the nerves caused severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea..The dr said it looked like I wasn't getting adequate blood supply to that area in my colon..As soon as I stopped zocor most of the problems went away except the sensitive colon and periferal neurapathy....I had to undergo 5 colonoscopies in the last 7 years...all because of zocor.....I had called the drug company that makes zocor after I found out on my own that it was the zocor causing all my woes....The rep there kept me on the phone for 40 min. asking me all kinds of questions..He told me that during the clinical trials 1 in 10,000 people had the reaction that I did....it sounds like there isn't a lot of people when you say that...but I live in a town of 10,000 people and 1 of me in town is a lot...multiply that by the millions of people in the world that are on them...and you got troubles......have a pain free day eveyone......

[adec]

My mom visibly shook with Parkinson's-like symptoms, and was also diagnosed with an early onset of Alzheimer's. Currently a year-and-a-half off of statins, and on continued statin therapy: she no longer shakes (head, limbs perfectly still) and now has the memory recall of a woman her age.

The only real problem continues to be the gastric distress caused by Lipitor, especially diarrhea, loose bowels, infrequent blood in the stool, and general sensitivity in the colon.... similar to catspajamas. I have so far tackled the problem with digestive enzymes with moderate success, and have started her on probiotics/prebiotics with continuing good success; although, it's still too early to tell. Only recently has she started having solid bowel movements again.

I believe some of this gastric weakness is further compounded by the prodigious amount of supplementation needed for full recovery. But I have also made my mom schedule an appointment with a gastroenterologist, just in case.