Mov Disord. 2015 Jan 14. doi: 10.1002/mds.26152. [Epub ahead of print]
Statins, plasma cholesterol, and risk of Parkinson's disease: A prospective study.
Huang X1, Alonso A, Guo X, Umbach DM, Lichtenstein ML, Ballantyne CM, Mailman RB, Mosley TH, Chen H.
Author information
Abstract
Previous findings on the association of statins, plasma lipids, and Parkinson's disease (PD) are confounded by the fact that statins also affect lipid profiles. We prospectively examined plasma lipids and statin use in relation to PD in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Statin use and plasma lipids were assessed at baseline (visit 1, 1987-89) and at three triennial visits thereafter (visits 2-4) until 1998. Potential PD cases were identified from multiple sources and validated where possible. The primary analysis was limited to incident PD cases diagnosed between 1998 and 2008. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were derived from multivariate logistic regression models. Statin use was rare at baseline (0.57%) but increased to 11.2% at visit 4. During this time frame, total-cholesterol levels decreased, particularly among statin users. Fifty-six PD cases were identified after 1998. Statin use before 1998 was associated with significantly higher PD risk after 1998 (odds ratio = 2.39, 95% confidence interval 1.11-5.13) after adjusting for total cholesterol and other confounders. Conversely, higher total cholesterol was associated with lower risk for PD after adjustment for statin usage and confounders. Compared with the lowest tertile of average total cholesterol, the odds ratios for PD were 0.56 (0.30-1.04) for the second and 0.43 (0.22-0.87) for the third tertile (Ptrend  = 0.02). Statin use may be associated with a higher PD risk, whereas higher total cholesterol may be associated with lower risk. These data are inconsistent with the hypothesis that statins are protective against PD. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
© 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25639598

I must have missed something. When/where/who put forward the "prior hypothesis" referenced at the end of this abstract:

"These data are inconsistent with the prior hypothesis that statins are protective against PD."

I've never read that anywhere! Has anyone?

If you look on the right side of the Pubmed link linked page you'll see related articles..
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25639598

[Related citations in PubMed
Long-term statin use and the risk of Parkinson's disease.[Am J Manag Care. 2013]
Plasma urate and Parkinson's disease in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.[Am J Epidemiol. 2009]
Lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are associated with Parkinson's disease.[Mov Disord. 2007]

Some of those mention statins could be neuro protective.
But some say yes and some say maybe not..
So not very conclusive pro or con......

Life Extension talks about this in the PD protocol article http://www.lef.org/Protocols/Neurolo...isease/Page-01

Does the analysis take into account the benefits that statins may give in other areas? For instance, suppose that a particular person had a doubled risk of PD if he took statins, but it halved his risk of heart disease.

As always when considering a course of action for a particular person a nuanced approach is needed, focussing on the individual, taking into account genetics, his medical history and that of his family, and the environment in which he lives and works.

John

Statins don't halve heart attack risk. As much as the drug companies push that "benefit", in reality it is tiny. And for women, almost never.

The downsides of statins include nerve damage, memory loss, diabetes, and even pulmonary fibrosis (this was reported in UK). Lipitor has shown in some studies increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
Not to mention the muscle damage etc. Statins are mycotoxins, and as such are toxic.

Here is a video explaining how statins actually kill cells.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19uxXqWF8h4

Statins may cause muscle pains... also..

New article today---

http://news.yahoo.com/cholesterol-no...205548731.html

No longer a concern about dietary cholesterol!

Thanks for posting this! For those who are worried about high cholesterol still, just get out in the sunshine. Our bodies use our store of cholesterol to make vitamin D3 when the sun hits our skin....something else most PWP are low in. The more cholesterol in our body, the more vitamin D3 our body can make when the sun hits the skin. And we all know D3 helps boost the immune system....and around and around we go, it is all related.

One of my favorite groups: TheNNT (Number needed to treat) offers this analysis (none of these physicians/epidemiologists/statisticians are associated with the pharmaceutical industry)
Statin Drugs Given for 5 Years for Heart Disease Prevention (Without Known Heart Disease)

In Summary, for those who took the statin for 5 years:

Benefits in NNT

None were helped (life saved)
1 in 104 were helped (preventing heart attack)
1 in 154 were helped (preventing stroke)
Harms in NNH

1 in 50 were harmed (develop diabetes*)
1 in 10 were harmed (muscle damage)

http://www.thennt.com/nnt/statins-fo...heart-disease/