Can Statins Make You Stupid

Posted: March 8th, 2009 | Author: Dr. Bill | No Comments »

Last night, I was reading a rather interesting report out of Iowa State University about statins, the drugs that are all over television, the magazines, and newspapers. Sometimes, I think you can’t turn a page in a magazine or newspaper without seeing Lipitor, Crestor, and so on and such forth.

There is a lot of debate in the medical community about the overall effectiveness of statins, and then, there is another debate about the side effects.

The side effects of statins range from muscle pain, to eye problems, to heart arrhythmias, to liver disorders. A friend of mine stopped taking statins a couple of months ago because he woke every morning with terrible shoulder pain. He stopped taking Lipitor, and within days his shoulders had improved 80%.

But in this new study, Yeon-Kyun Shin, a biophysics professor in the department of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology at Iowa State University says that statins could also be robbing brains of thinking power and memory by doing exactly what they are designed to do, which is to reduce cholesterol.

It turns out that statins not only inhibit the liver from making cholesterol but they may also block the brain from making cholesterol. It may be akin trying to run a car on gasoline with no electrical system.

Dr. Shin says there is a direct link between cholesterol and neurotransmitters in the brain. The translation is simple. No, or lower cholesterol, could mean impaired brain function.

It isn’t a stretch that statin drugs that block cholesterol in the liver also do the same thing to the brain.

One way to make sure your brain is healthy is to get enough essential omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, which comprises about 30% of the entire weight of the brain. If you’re taking a statin, or not, remember to feed your brain pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

Statins can be useful in treating cholesterol, but they are widely over-prescribed. Cholesterol isn’t the only way to judge heart problems. If you suffer any of the side effects, you should notify your physician and tell them you want off the drug.

There are a number of natural alternatives to statins, such as enteric coated pharmaceutical grade fish oil that feeds your heart, brain and joints exactly what they need, on a daily basis.

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