Statin use may have a detrimental effect (faster increase in levodopa & dementia conversion )

"This study suggests that statin use may have a detrimental effect on baseline nigrostriatal dopamine degeneration and long-term outcomes in patients with Parkinson’s disease."

academic.oup.com/brain/adva...

[park_bear]

This was an important study:

academic.oup.com/brain/adva...

" A survival analysis showed that the rate of dementia conversion was significantly higher in patients with Parkinson’s disease with statin (hazard ratio, 2.019; 95% CI, 1.108 − 3.678; P = 0.022) than those without statin"

In plain English statin use associated with double the risk of Parkinson's dementia. That was not the only study to indicate an adverse effect of statins:

movementdisorders.onlinelib...

" Statin usage was significantly associated with PD risk, with the strongest associations being for lipophilic (odds ratio = 1.58, P < .0001) versus hydrophilic (odds ratio = 1.19, P = .25) statins, statins plus nonstatins (odds ratio = 1.95, P < .0001), and for the initial period after starting statins (<1 year odds ratio = 1.82, 1-2.5 years odds ratio = 1.75, and ≥2.5 years odds ratio = 1.37; Ptrend < .0001)."

And, Parkinson's inversely associated with cholesterol levels:

movementdisorders.onlinelib...

" Plasma (S)24-OH-cholesterol levels were inversely associated with the odds of having PD, with an odds ratio of 0.92 (95% confidence interval: 0.87–0.97) for each 1-ng/mL increase (P = 0.004). Compared to the lowest tertile, the odds ratio was 0.34 (0.12–0.98) for the second tertile (P = 0.045) and 0.08 (0.02–0.31) for the highest tertile (P < 0.001). Higher (S)24-OH-cholesterol levels also were correlated with better sense of smell (r = 0.35; P = 0.01)."

[JBOVERT in reply to park_bear]

HI PARK,

THIS IS DEF NOT GOOD INFO FOR ME RIGHT NOW..

I am trying to open the main report but it wont give me access. i ve been on statins- for a super long time about half my life and i had a moment of thought about it say about year n half go and decide to cut my cholesterol meds in half..

not that it has made a significant differnce in the way i feel or anything but just because i rememn=ber readingf that our brain is made up of cholesterol and that if you are nibbling away at that over the years it will make a difference 'on your congnition...as time goes by..so trying to be proactive and all that i eliminated my statin totally and my cholesterol shot up to 224 nd so now im back on it and waitig to see what ny next test will show.... but irregardless it is sounding now like im kind of between a rock and that hard place and that is bumming me out big time.. But there is always an alternative and maybe thats what i need to be focused on ....i guess a totally plant based diet is the first thing i need to change to and then i need to have a discussion with my cardiologist about what an alternative to statin is.....and so it goes...man the changes keep coming at me....

[park_bear in reply to JBOVERT]

Cholesterol has gotten a bum rap because it is the patch material the body uses to repair arterial injury, but it is not the cause of such injury. More details see my writings here:

A Tale Of Two Studies Leads To A Deeper Understanding Of Cardiovascular Disease

tinyurl.com/y6agl45j

Sugar, Fat And Cardiovascular Disease

tinyurl.com/y5cfmygz

For discussion of the problems of statins and what else you can do see my writing here (scroll down to the part on statins):

When Good Doctors Prescribe Bad Medicine:

tinyurl.com/zvgcu79

[sharoncrayn in reply to park_bear]

Another questionnaire study (Sugar, Fat...). I wouldn't cite it without clarifying its inherent weaknesses, but just my opinion. Obviously, you think differently.

sharon

[Zella23]

My husband has managed to avoid Statins despite the insistence of our GP. His blood test recently showed his cholesterol level were improving and so they definitely were not needed.

[Despe]

Unfortunately, my husband was on it for at least 5 years. . .