Statins and cognitive function in the elderly
Sure–they lower cholesterol. But will you be cognizant enough to appreciate your good cholesterol levels? There has been a very, very strong push to increase the use of statin drugs in patients with normal cholesterol. If this push is successful, I’m positive we will start to see some nastier side effects of this class of drugs.
While too low of cholesterol has been linked to dementia, this study found that the negative effect of statins on cognitive function was not related to cholesterol. Most likely it would be through the reduction in CoQ10 levels, which is required in high levels in the nervous system.