Can Statins Prevent Parkinson's Disease?

Reader Comments
Back to article

It's discouraging and misleading that part of this article was left out, regarding the flimsy nature of these "findings," as mentioned by MML of Ohio. Also, the article does mention that statins lower the level of CoQ10 in the blood, which is harmful to both physical and neurological systems. PD patients have even been encouraged to take supplemental CoQ10, so why would these patients or anyone take a drug they don't need to LOWER CoQ10 levels? Personally, I have seen the detrimental side effects of statins, including memory loss, depression, rage, and muscle weakness. When the statin use was discontinued, the patient in question returned to "normal." Fortunately, this was done before permanent damage had occurred. People need to carefully monitor their physical AND psychological well-being if they choose to take statins.

Wendy of CO 2:51PM March 21, 2012

Why did you not include the concluding paragraph in this article, this rendering of the authors' intention is so misleading. "http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242776.php
"The researchers point out that in addition to having produced mixed results on statin use and PD risk, epidemiologic studies have also shown that statins potentially have unfavorable effects on the central nervous system.
They conclude by saying:
"In contrast with use of ibuprofen, which has been consistently found to be inversely associated with PD risk in these cohorts as well as in other longitudinal studies, the overall epidemiological evidence relating stain use to PD risk remains unconvincing. Given the potential adverse effects of statins, further prospective observational studies are needed to explore the potential effects of different subtypes of statin on risk of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases."

mml of OH 2:59AM March 13, 2012

And from another counter argument which does NOT include "chance finding":
In 2006, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers published a study that found people with low levels of LDL cholesterol are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people with high LDL levels.
But that study could not answer the question of whether low LDL (low-density lipoprotein) levels were present in study participants before they were diagnosed with Parkinson's, or if they developed low LDL levels after being diagnosed.
Now a follow-up study led by UNC researchers in collaboration with colleagues in Virginia, Hawaii and Japan has found that low LDL levels were present in a group of men of Japanese ancestry long before these men were diagnosed with Parkinson's.
"This finding gives us one more piece in the puzzle about the role of cholesterol in Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Xuemei Huang...
"What makes these results especially useful is the fact that most of the men in this study were not taking cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins," Huang said. "This suggests that the association between low LDL levels and Parkinson's exists independently from statin use, which helps answer another important question raised by our earlier study."
The new study was published online by the journal Movement Disorders...
Low levels of LDL cholesterol are clearly associated with good cardiovascular health. Huang's research adds to a growing literature indicating that people with low LDL may be at greater risk for developing Parkinson's.
"Our study again shows an association between low cholesterol and the risk of Parkinson's disease, but we have not shown cause and effect," Huang said. "People taking statins for valid medical reasons should not stop simply to avoid Parkinson's."
For this prospective study, fasting lipids were measured from 1991 to 1993 in a group of 3,233 men of Japanese ancestry who took part in a long-running study called the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. These data were collected before statin therapy for lowering cholesterol was widely available. When followed for about ten years, the incidence of Parkinson's disease increased with decreasing levels of LDL cholesterol.
After adjusting their statistical analysis for age, smoking, coffee intake and other factors, the researchers calculated that the relative odds of Parkinson's for men with lower LDL levels (85 milligrams per deciliter) was about twice that of those with higher LDL levels (135 milligrams per deciliter). They concluded that this study supports the hypothesis that low LDL levels are associated with an increased future risk of Parkinson's.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080404161832.htm

mml of OH 2:46AM March 13, 2012

Statins can only make the doctor prescribing it laugh away to bank ... because the phrama company pays them cash to write these deadly poison.
I would prefer to die than to take STATINS. Correct the imbalance with diet and not with these crap. Shun the LOW FAT High CARB Crap which has been taught for over years ... and after tuning the human body for Pharma industries they handed them over to strip every day of cash till the person is alive.

Anup 4:51PM March 12, 2012