Lipitor, Cholesterol, and Memory Problems
Statin Drugs and Memory Problems
Would you sacrifice your memory to shave a few points off your cholesterol level? That dilemma prompted an HSI member named James to send this e-mail:
“Are there studies recently saying that memory loss may be a side effect of long-term taking of Lipitor? At 77 yrs and on Lipitor for years, I am suddenly having a very difficult time remembering names of people I have known for years! I can sit around a table at a meeting and simply can’t recall a person’s name. I’ve got a lot of company with this problem. Thanks for whatever you can pass along to us.”
As James is already aware, he’s not alone.
To answer James’ question – yes, there are studies. According to a Geriatric Times article by Dr. Beatrice A. Golomb, two studies – in 2000 and 2002 – demonstrated an association between the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and cognitive decline.
There are also quite a few case studies in which statins have been linked to memory lapses – especially in older patients. In the worst cases, the effect is known as total global amnesia (TGA) in which memory is completely lost for periods ranging from several minutes to several hours.
The most high profile case of TGA is documented in the book “Lipitor: Thief of Memory” (Infinity Publishing, 2004), written by medical research scientist and former astronaut Duane Graveline, M.D. During his first TGA experience (just a few weeks after beginning statin treatment), 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 convinced him to begin his statin regimen again, and again he suffered a particularly bad TGA episode. For a period of about 12 hours, he completely lost all adult memories.
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.
Source:”Statin Adverse Effects: Implications for the Elderly” Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Geriatric Times, Vol. 5, No. 3, May/June 2004, geriatrictimes.com
