Can Statins Prevent Parkinson's Disease?
MONDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- People taking popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may have a slightly lower risk than others of developing Parkinson's disease, new research suggests.
This effect may be even more pronounced among people younger than 60, according to the study published in the March issue of Archives of Neurology.
However, the risk reduction was modest and may have been due to chance, the authors said, noting that more research is warranted, especially because statins can cause adverse side effects.
"There is no clear verdict," said Dr. Stuart Isaacson, director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center of Boca Raton, who was not involved in the study.
"Right now we don't have any good evidence that there is anything we can do to reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, but research is ongoing," added Isaacson,...


from study report itself: Another limitation is that we cannot exclude a possibility of residual confounding because of the observational study design. Among participants in these cohorts, we have previously reported a significant association
between ibuprofen use and lower PD risk.(there were a large number of individuals in these studies who took ibuprofen. madelyn)
31
Further, indication bias cannot be excluded because an elevated level
of cholesterol has been found to be associated with lower
PD risk in some but not all previous prospective studies, as reviewed elsewhere.
3"...However, our results should be interpreted with caution because only
approximately 70% of users of cholesterol-lowering drugs
at baseline were actual statin users. Further, the results
were only marginally significant and could be due to
chance. In contrast with use of ibuprofen, which has been
consistently found to be inversely associated with PD risk
in these cohorts (pooled RR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93)
as well as in other longitudinal studies,
31
the overall epidemiological evidence relating statin 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 statins on risk of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases."

http://www.topnews.in/health/statin-...-s-risk-215260

Now that more and more alarming (to me) evidence about statin use is coming out, and more and more people are opting NOT to take them even when prescribed (this is true for many drugs, actually, not just statins)...they are looking for another use for this drug so they can keep selling it. I've not read so many disclaimers on results as are in this article in a long time, it could be this, we have to also consider that, dont' forget to factor in this as well...blah blah blah.

Now, maybe statins do help prevent PD....but really, if that were even remotely the case, I think we'd be able to see pretty much immediately that no one who took statins got PD, or if they had PD, it got better. I never heard anything about that, so unless they are secreting that news for some inexplicable reason, it probably is not the case.

I would be more inclined to consider this as a possiblity if they offered the mechanism by which a statin could lower PD risk. To me, it would seem the opposite: lower cholesterol is associated with a higher PD risk....so taking a drug that lowers choesterol might actually increase your risk. Or am I missing something...

Additionally, I have read of more than a few reports of folks developing joint and muscle pain after beginning statin use, some of which went away after the drug was stopped but in many instances, it was permanent. Again, this would indicate some type of inflammation, which I do not believe is associated with a lower PD risk. So how are statins supposedly working to lower the risk of PD?

I read that statins may cause dementia in the future. I won't take them for that reason alone. (I think I searched on drug-induced dementia)

Jean

Wanted to add this to the thread. http://bit.ly/FO542C

Best, Debi

In addition to the newest edict from the FDA noting "all statins must carry warnings about increased risks of elevated blood sugar ( onset of diabetes type II) and possible transient memory and cognition problems", I think it important to recall use of statins in another neurodegenerative disease: (I am always impressed with how quickly unwanted/unpopular information is forgotten as this study of statins and ALS. The lack of media coverage of this study was also impressive--as opposed to the meta analysis addressed in this post, about "moderate" thou not statistically significant decreased incidence of PD )




Published in: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Volume 9, Issue 4 2008 , pages 223 - 228




Abstract
Statin medications for elevated cholesterol are one of the most commonly prescribed medications worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine if statin medications affect the rate of disease progression, the severity and frequency of muscle cramping, and serum CK levels in patients with ALS. We conducted a prospective cohort study in patients diagnosed with ALS with statin medication as the predetermined exposure variable and the rate of decline of the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) as the primary outcome. One hundred and sixty-four consecutive patients with laboratory supported probable, clinically probable, or clinically definite ALS were evaluated from January 2006 to September 2007. Thirty-two patients (20%) were taking statin medications and 132 were in the control group. After adjusting for covariates, we found a highly significant increase in the rate of decline in the ALSFRS-R for the statin group (1.71 units/month) compared to the control group (1.05 units/month, p<0.0001) representing a 63% increase in the rate of functional decline. Patients on statin therapy also reported a significant increase in muscle cramp frequency and severity (p<0.0001). This study has demonstrated a strong association between statin medications and an increased rate of functional decline and muscle cramping in patients with ALS. Although this association does not prove a causal relationship, it is prudent to exercise caution and discuss discontinuation or replacement of statin medications in patients with ALS.

Statins did not last long for the MS population. Prevented remyelination in fact.

Statins vary in lipophilic potential. Zocor is very lipophilic, and pravastatin less so.

Lipitor is in between. They are not all equal in crossing the BBB.

I think we are starting to see the beginning of the end of the statin empire.