That is very different than the severe cognitive damage that you spoke of.

That would probably have shown up in these studies. Also, this may be just an
opinion. You can find other Drs. who will say the opposite.

We have been though this before. I don't see that at all.

That there may be nothing there.

Bill

Well, they did say it wasn't worth spending more money on unless someone can
get better results first:

"Studies with sufficient statistical power are needed to assess the
effect of statin use on dementia risk, the authors note. "Until such
research is able to demonstrate more promising results, however, we
suggest that costly randomized trials of statins are premature."

BTW, one of the authors of this study also wrote this:

Sparks DL, Lopez J, Connor D, Sabbagh M, Seward J,
Browne P; Alzheimer's Disease Cholesterol-Lowering
Treatment Team;
J Mol Neurosci. 2003;20(3):407-10.;
"A position paper: based on observational data
indicating an increased rate of altered blood chemistry
requiring withdrawal from the Alzheimer's Disease
Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment Trial (ADCLT);" Excerpt
froom abstract: "There was no apparent correlation
between the occurrence of withdrawal-AE incidence and
lower body mass among the female AD trial subjects and,
therefore, probably was not a dose-related resultant.
This might indicate that cognitively intact elderly
women at risk for heart disease and those with
clinically documented AD should not be presumed to be
pharmocodynamically equivalent."

Also, it still raises the questions:

What protocol did they employ to determine that there were no instances of
statin cognitive damage?

And, given that:
1) 5% to 15% of statin users expected to have
significant cognitive adverse effects (per Dr. Goloob
interviews), and

2) nearly 100% expected to have mild cognitive adverse
effects (per Dr. Muldoons studies), and

3) with the reports that adverse effects are more
likely to occur in the elderly (per an associate in
this study, DL Sparks,citation above), and

4) the findings that patients with Alz may be
particularly susceptible to statins (per Algotsson A,
Winblad B, citation below),

to what did they attribute the lack of statin cognitive
adverse effects detected?  Was the sample too small
(i.e., 6 statin users with dementia in Wave 1 and 8 in
Wave 2)?

Algotsson A, Winblad B.
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2004;17(3):109-16. Epub
2004 Jan 20.
"Patients with Alzheimer's disease may be particularly
susceptible to adverse effects of statins."
Excerpt from abstract: "They generally are well
tolerated, but some adverse effects, probably due to
antiproliferative and proapoptotic properties of the
statins, are matters of concern. AD patients may be
extrasusceptible to adverse effects of statins due to
preexisting aberrations in signal transduction and
energy metabolism in the neurons and a perturbed
cholesterol metabolism in the brain."

The study you quoted above, however, suggests that they could not reach a
conclusion either way.

Bill

That hope is what this cruel hucksterism was based upon.  Immediately upon
the appearance of several popular media articles on statin causing
devastating cognitive damage, the whisper campaign started.  No less than 10
journal articles appeared asking the question, could statins prevent
Alzheimer's?

That hope was what caused massive "amnesia" among doctors who had evidence
of cognitive damage drowned out by the hype and false promise.

How many statin patients developed severe cognitive damage during that
period, while doctors were convinced to look the other way?   I know several
personally.

Another misleading subject line.....

The article makes it clear that there are conflicting studies: some show
no protection against dementia, others do. Obviously, much more research
is needed.

Who wouldn't hope that there *might* be some benefit from statins against
this most debilitating disease, alzheimers?

L.

Many of us who have been exposed first-hand to the devastating cognitive
adverse effects of statins have been tremendously skeptical of the "Can
statins prevent Alz?????" headlines, which appeared at a time that
conveniently offset articles in the popular media that exposed the memory
loss caused by statins.

We doubters also questioned how the studies would differentiate between Alz
and statin-induced memory loss.

As it turns out, this latest study shows that statins do NOT prevent
Alzheimer's:

     Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
     http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-02
-10T211401Z_01_B371082_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-STATINS-DEMENTIA-DC.XML
     Reuters.uk, UK - 5 hours ago
     NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs
belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem
to have any effect ...

     Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
     http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7598600
     Reuters - 5 hours ago
     NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs
belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem
to have any effect ...

     Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
     http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=488976
     ABC News - 5 hours ago
     Feb 10, 2005 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of
cholesterol-lowering drugs belonging to the statin family, such as Lipitor
or Pravacol, does not seem ...

Statins Don't Protect Against Dementia: Study
Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:15 PM GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs belonging
to the statin family, such as Lipitor or Pravacol, does not seem to have any
effect on the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to findings
from a new study.

This supports the results of another study, but run counter other study
findings that have linked statin use with a reduced risk of dementia.

The current study involved elderly residents living in Cache County, Utah,
who were evaluated for statin use and dementia between 1995 and 1997 and
then again between 1998 and 2000.

Dr. John C. S. Breitner, from the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in
Seattle, and colleagues report their findings in the Archives of General
Psychiatry.

Of the 4,895 subjects evaluated at the initial assessment, 355 had dementia,
including 200 with Alzheimer's disease. In this analysis, statin use was
associated with a 56-percent reduction in risk of dementia.

During 3-year follow-up, 185 of 3308 at-risk survivors were diagnosed with
dementia, including 104 with Alzheimer's disease. In this analysis, statin
use at the start of the study or at follow-up had no effect on the risk of
dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

One explanation for the different findings could be that after dementia sets
in, patients may simply be less likely to use statins, along with other
drugs.

Studies with sufficient statistical power are needed to assess the effect of
statin use on dementia risk, the authors note. "Until such research is able
to demonstrate more promising results, however, we suggest that costly
randomized trials of statins are premature."

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, February 2005.