Your
Brain on Statins
By James LaValle, R.Ph,
ND, CCN
I
was recently made aware of huge news on statin drugs
from the labs at 
The
concern comes from simply knowing that brain cells, like liver cells, also
manufacture cholesterol. Brain cells need cholesterol for a variety of
functions. For instance, cholesterol is a primary component of the protective
nerve coating called myelin. If your brain cells didn't need cholesterol, they
wouldn't make it.
In
the past it was assumed that statins primarily affect
the production of cholesterol in the liver. However, as a pharmacist I
have always thought it was naïve to think that a drug (statins)
that circulates throughout the whole body would not affect other
cholesterol-producing cells at all. My fears have now been proven
correct.
Yeon-Kyun Shin, a biophysics professor
in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology at Iowa State,
says his research shows that statins do indeed slow
the production of cholesterol in the brain which then interferes with efficient
brain function.1 His study will soon be published in the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
Shin
found that too little cholesterol in brain cells significantly affected a
protein that is needed for the release of neurotransmitters. Cholesterol is
needed to change the shape of this critical protein, and in his words, "to
stimulate thinking and memory."
I
cannot overstate how important this information is, and how big a ripple this
news will cause as it is more widely reported. At least, I hope it will be widely reported.
If you deprive the brain of cholesterol, you "directly
affect the machinery that triggers the release of neurotransmitters," said
Shin. "Neurotransmitters affect the brain's data-processing and memory functions. In other words -- how smart you are
and how well you remember things."
As
you probably already know, statins lower LDL, and
while it is often reported that they can also help raise HDL somewhat, I
frequently see people who cannot raise their HDL levels while they are on statin drugs, especially when they are on higher
dosages. And other studies have shown that low HDL cholesterol is linked
with memory loss.2
Ever
since statin drugs entered the marketplace, some
users have experienced severe memory problems from them. While it's true
that the most pronounced of these cases has involved a very small percentage of
people, some of us have been watching closely to see how wider usage of statins will end up affecting the cognitive function of
people using them.
Dr.
Shin's research conclusively confirms our suspicion that statins
can be harmful to cognitive functioning. "Our study shows there is a
direct link between cholesterol and the neurotransmitter release," he said
definitively.
We
have to be really careful in taking statins,
especially with newer guidelines advising us that LDL cholesterol should be 100
mg/dL or lower. For people at high risk for
heart disease, 70 mg/dL is the suggested level.3
But the bad news for our brain is that
very often to reach these more aggressive goals, higher dosages of statins must be used.
Since
statin drugs do have some anti-inflammatory actions,
the trend in medicine has been to get more and more people on statins, but this could have dire consequences when it
comes to long-term cognitive health. One group I am particularly
concerned about is people with diabetes.
A
person with diabetes is in the high-risk category for heart disease, therefore s(he) will be targeted for more aggressive cholesterol
lowering. This group is already at high risk for cognitive decline due to
blood sugar elevation. (I explained this connection in more detail in the February 10, 2009 issue of Total Health Breakthroughs.)
To add further insult to a diabetic's cognitive function from statins could be very risky.
A
study out of UCLA recently found that many people are having heart attacks even
though their cholesterol is at or below the 100 mg/dL
target. There is no doubt in my mind that this study will be used as
fodder to encourage increased use of statins.
This will be despite the fact that 21%
of the people in the study were using statins, and
still had heart attacks.4
The
bottom line is this: In addition to their CoQ10 lowering effects, we can add
this newest discovery to our growing list of concerns about statin
drugs. Kudos to Dr. Shin for this much-needed research and thanks to Ross
Pelton, my friend and the co-author of my
drug-induced nutrient depletion books for the shout out on this very important
discovery.
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