Statins may cause memory problems

Cholesterol drugs may cause memory lapses

Studies have shown that the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may cause mild memory lapses. But in the worst cases, the side effect is known as total global amnesia (TGA) in which memory is completely lost for periods lasting from several minutes to several hours.

This phenomenon has been documented in clinical trials. And while the number of patients who suffer from statin-related TGA is very small, a compelling first-hand account illustrates how dangerous this problem can be for that minority.

In a book titled “Lipitor: Thief of Memory” (Infinity Publishing, 2004), one man’s battle with TGA is described in detail. But this man is not your average statin user; he’s Duane Graveline, M.D., a former astronaut, medical research scientist and family doctor.

During his first TGA experience (several weeks after beginning a statin regimen) Dr. Graveline wasn’t able to recognize his wife or children. He suspected the statin was to blame, so stopped taking it. Later his doctor encouraged him to begin taking the statin again, and again he suffered a particularly bad TGA episode – for a period of about 12 hours, virtually all of his adult memories simply vanished.

When Dr. Graveline’s experience was published in a syndicated newspaper column, the response was enormous; hundreds of people wrote to share their experiences of memory loss associated with statin use. This prompted Dr. Graveline to devote himself to an investigation of statin-related TGA case histories and what he calls the medical establishment’s “misguided war on cholesterol.”

Dr. Graveline’s book is available at bookstores and through amazon.com.