I read an article from a medical journal a few years ago that concluded that in a particular population of Jewish people, statins seemed to help prevent AD. I remember thinking "good, if this applies to all people, because my Grandma is taking a statin, if not, it isn't hurting her."
Someone posted an article in the cg section that said that statins may cause AD or at least AD appearing symptoms. I've read quite a few articles on line in the last few hours. It seems that AD is more likely in people taking statins, but I don't see that stating actually cause AD. I also read that the proportion of people who once took statins and then stopped them had an even higher incidence of AD. Is this just a coincidence?
Are the AD-like symptoms caused by statins different in that they aren't progressive?
I honestly don't remember if my Grandma started taking Lipitor before or after her AD diagnosis. I don't know that it helps her heart disease at her age, but I don't know that it doesn't help either. I don't know if continuing it hurts her or if discontinuing it would make things worse.
The articles about statins are often contradictory and nothing really conclusive.
Any thoughts?

jellybeans-if you want to drive yourself crazy just Google statins and dementia. Half say it protects against dementa and half say it does nothing

It's the articles that say statins may cause or worsen it that are driving me crazy!

I was on statins for awhile til I hurt so bad I quit them........
My colesteral is just fine now..........

Perhaps physicians have been too enthusiastic about the use of statins, prescribed them too often, instead of telling people, "exercise more, lose weight and change what you eat."

Statins Show Dramatic Drug And Cell Dependent Effects In The Brain
ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2009) — Besides their tremendous value in treating high cholesterol and lowering the risk of heart disease, statins have also been reported to potentially lower the risks of other diseases, such as dementia. However, a study in the October Journal of Lipid Research finds that similar statin drugs can have profoundly different effects on brain cells -both beneficial and detrimental. These findings reinforce the idea that great care should be taken when deciding on the dosage and type of statin given to individuals, particularly the elderly...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../10/091028114017.htm

We have gone around and around on this subject before and I predict we will be at it for a long time to come. Nobody can really see what statins are doing in the brain of a living, breathing Alzheimer's patient. I presume the Science Daily article was about brain cells in a petri dish.

I have read articles that state that pravastatin does not cross the BBB at all, whereas simvastatin crosses it the most readily of all statins. So, I don't understand why we should draw any conclusions from the petri dish story. It indicated that pravastatin had an effect.

I asked my cardiologist(Head of cardiology at a local hospital) his opinion on it and he emphatically stated that statins are good for the brain.

Since our last go around on this subject, I convinced Ann's neurologist to cut her simvastatin dose from 20 to 10 and repeat her lipid profile in three months to verify that har arteries are not under seige.

It has been about half that time now. I see no evidence of change in her mental state from when she was taking 20mg.

quote:

I asked my cardiologist(Head of cardiology at a local hospital) his opinion on it and he emphatically stated that statins are good for the brain.

And I asked my husband's first geriatrician, who works with the AD research center, and he said the jury is still out as to whether statins are helpful in preventing AD and/or harmful for AD patients. He has gotten so high up in the system that he has too many duties to continue seeing private patients, so we (unfortunately) switched geri's. The second geri -- who also works with the ADRC -- tried to insist that my husband start taking a statin, and was outraged at the idea that the health benefits of statins for AD patients might even be questioned.

We will indeed be going around and around for a long time to come.

Perhaps different statin drugs have different effects. I found this article recently on ScienceDaily.com. It is about the effects of Simvastatin (Zocor?) on Parkinson's disease in a "mouse model". I did a quick search on Google for the protein mentioned in the article, "p21Ras". It seems that it is involved with several diseases.

Widely Used Cholesterol-lowering Drug May Prevent Progression Of Parkinson's Disease
ScienceDaily (Nov. 9, 2009)
Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson's disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease. Pahan and colleagues from Rush, along with researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha published these findings in the October 28 issue of the Journal of Neurosciences. The authors have shown that the activity of one protein called p21Ras is increased very early in the midbrain of mice with Parkinson's pathology. Simvastatin enters into the brain and blocks the activity of the p21Ras protein and other associated toxic molecules, and goes on to protect the neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels, and improves the motor functions in the mice with Parkinson's...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../10/091029211647.htm

Here's a link to another article about the same paper which was published in the Oct. 28 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Ne...s&utm_content=Group1

Just tagging this for further input and updates on test results.

JAB, any test results after starting the Red Yeast Rice for you and your husband?

I still haven't tried another brand as my first experience was, let's just say, overly evacuating.