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Your welcome!

You’re very welcome!

So glad you are doing better. We do now have alternatives to statins for those that are not tolerating them. Too bad you endured it for years.

It sounds like you had the “brain fog” side effect from your statin which is fortunately reversible. I’m so glad you have a doctor that listened to you and replaced your medication with a different and effective medication. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

You are correct; overall when you group all statins together and look at the general population, not only do statins not cause dementia, they are associated with a decrease in dementia. The study that shows a correlation with conversion to mild cognitive impairment and dementia looked at data for only those with normal or low baseline cholesterol and taking a lipophilic statin. Additionally, it is definitely not proof, but statistical association. Because cognitive function was not a primary outcome when the study was designed, the study was not powered for this outcome and we can only say there was an association that was revealed. Maybe when a large, fully powered study is conducted, we will find out it was an anomaly and there is no connection at all. Maybe, we will find out that folks with low or normal cholesterol could be adversely affected cognitively by some statins. We don’t know; that study does not exist. With more studies we may discover that the people who experience cognitive decline on lipophilic statins have mutations in DHCR24 which can lead to elevated desmosterol levels and decreased cholesterol levels in the brain (which is associated with dementia). We need multiple, large studies about this and until then, we should proceed with caution for our normal cholesterol folks. I want people in that small group (those who take statins that never had high cholesterol) to be on the safe side and simply talk to their doctor about taking a hydrophilic statin instead -no harm done. Brain fog is a possible side effect of statins and is reversible upon stopping the statin and is not dementia. I believe that is what you are referring to in your comment. I appreciate your comment.

Wow, that is great! I want to get the information out to many and I hope it helps people. Thank you!!

Most doctors will not consider cholestyramine to be a substitute for a statin. It is in a powder form, inconvenient to take, lots of drug interactions and not well tolerated. As a pharmacist for many years, I can tell you that I rarely dispense it and the times that I do, it is usually being used for itching (from certain types of liver disease). There are other non-statin medications though that can help cholesterol if your doctor believes you are a candidate.

Muscle pain is definitely one of the problems with statins. I am glad to hear you are better now!

I was aware that there is adjusted dosing for altered kidney function, but I was not aware there were countries that banned it. Thank you for letting me know.

It's interesting. In the US, doctors usually don’t put someone on a statin due to their cholesterol number (unless extremely high LDL). Now it’s usually due to risk factors instead of cholesterol number. Anyone having terrible side effects should definitely talk to their doctor (as your friend did) and there are now alternatives to statins that are better tolerated.

Those side effects sound terrible! You may have been prescribed a PCSK9 inhibitor which is very expensive and sometimes not covered by insurance. If you can stay healthy with lifestyle, then that’s the way to go! I hope your labs are great! If not, there is a medication called ezetimibe that is not expensive and can reduce LDL cholesterol -you can ask your doctor about it. It is NOT as potent as a statin but usually better tolerated and almost always covered by insurance (or cheap using GoodRx or other discount code). Best of luck to you!

There is some evidence that brain fog after exercise could be due to low glucose levels or temporary brain glycogen depletion. It may be a good idea to talk to your doctor about it to get to the bottom of it.

I am so glad to hear you are doing better! It will also be important to stay on top of your glucose levels and prevent or reverse insulin resistance that may or may not be present. Best of luck to you and may you continue to have improved cognitive function!

Yes, the key is to discuss with your cardiologist. There is also something referred to as “brain fog” which I did not address in the video. It is a possible side effect of statins and is actually reversible. We have so many other good alternatives to statins now, that if someone does not tolerate the statin, there are several other directions. Thank you for sharing and best of luck to you! I would love to hear about the outcome.

Excellent that you have a good ratio and zero risk factors! I hope you can continue controlling cardiovascular risk with lifestyle. Also, keep an eye on your glucose levels and possible signs of insulin resistance. Emerging evidence shows importance in this area for cognitive health. Thank you for sharing. I wish you great health -mental and physical!

Historically, patients were treated according to their cholesterol level: high cholesterol = statin. Several years ago, the guidelines changed. Now, patients are started on a statin if their 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) event risk is 10% or greater and at least one CVD risk factor. One example of an “event” would be a heart attack. Some doctors also prescribe a statin if the event risk is 7.5% or greater. This is regardless of cholesterol number. This has resulted in patients with normal cholesterol to be placed on statins. In fact, the majority of patients with diabetes are placed on statins. In addition, a few patients with elevated cholesterol and no risk factors were taken off statins due to lack of risk factors.

When I read your comment, I checked it out. I had not known such a tool existed. Then when I played around with it and realized that it scored Simvastatin and Lovastatin best for “all-cause mortality.” I believe most health care professionals would disagree so I tried to determine how the rankings were determined, and I could not tell. Then I noticed that as you said, Rosuvastatin scored low on “all-cause mortality” despite being a favorite among cardiologists in the US. This scoring tool may actually be accurate, or maybe not -it's difficult for me to assess. I can think of a reason though that Rosuvastatin may fair worse: in my experience, cardiologists in the US strongly use Rosuvastatin. If a patient has a health condition that warrants for them to see a cardiologist, their “all-cause mortality” risks are likely different than a patient who is receiving their statin from their primary doctor who usually prescribes atorvastatin. I am only thinking out loud. Even the study I presented in the video may have similar, unknown confounding factors. Thank you for bringing the statin ranking tool to my attention. It is interesting! Now, I need to check that broken link -Thank you!!

Historically, patients were treated according to their cholesterol level: high cholesterol = statin. Several years ago, the guidelines changed. Now, patients are started on a statin if their 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) event risk is 10% or greater and at least one CVD risk factor. One example of an “event” would be a heart attack. Some doctors also prescribe a statin if the event risk is 7.5% or greater. This is regardless of cholesterol number. This has resulted in patients with normal cholesterol to be placed on statins. In fact, the majority of patients with diabetes are placed on statins. In addition, a few patients with elevated cholesterol and no risk factors were taken off statins due to lack of risk factors.

Do you think that the extreme headaches and lack of balance correlate with the timing of starting the rosuvastatin 10mg? Headaches and dizziness are possible side effects of rosuvastatin. It may be a good idea to discuss with your doctor about these 2 possible side effects. There are a couple of options the doctor can try - especially since your cholesterol numbers are so incredibly controlled. Best of luck to you!

@@veena-usa Thank you.

I’m sorry to hear this about your father. 💕

Very well stated. Thank you for your input!

Wow! What an amazing story! I knew that green tea can lower cholesterol, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting such a significant result.

Thank you!

During the fermentation process of Red Yeast Rice, lovastatin and some other statin-like compounds can be produced. Lovastatin is lipophilic.

@@veena-usa thank you. Now I'm trying to figure out if I need to worry about only total cholesterol or only ldl. I'm in Perimenopause so forgetfulness is expected but I'm wondering if the side effects of athriosclerosis is enough of a reason to avoid ryr

Lovastatin content in a typical dose of Red Yeast Rice is small (often smaller than the lowest prescription dose). It typically has only a mild effect on cholesterol. About total cholesterol, the reason I mentioned it in the video is because that’s what was looked at in the studies. If you talk to your doctor about it, they are often more interested in LDL and ratio of HDL vs Total. If you haven’t already, check in with your doctor to get a lab done so you know where you are. Also, if you are starting to notice negative symptoms that may or may not be related to perimenopause like forgetfulness, let your doctor know. They can look over your medications, labs and medical history and may have some insight. Best of luck to you!

Just FYI, 230 is an elevated baseline total cholesterol level and higher than the cutoff in the study -so you don't fit the profile for association with increased cognitive function risk with any statin. If you would like to switch just to feel safe about it, that it completely fine. Pravastatin or Rosuvastatin are also inexpensive and just fine.

You're very welcome

• A total cholesterol level of less than 200 mg/dL (5.17 mmol/L) is normal. • A total cholesterol level of 200 to 239 mg/dL (5.17 to 6.18 mmol/L) is moderately elevated. • A total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL (6.21 mmol/L) or greater is high. In the study that looked at people with normal cognition, the conversion to mild cognitive impairment was associated with those having a total cholesterol of less than 175 mg/dl and taking a lipophilic statin. In the study that looked at people with mild cognitive impairment, the conversion to dementia was associated with having a total cholesterol below 206 mg/dl and taking a lipophilic statin. Remember, this is considered an association and not proof that dementia, and mild cognitive impairment is caused by any statin. Researchers consider it "correlation, not causation." We need more studies that are larger and look at this as a "primary outcome." Until we know the facts, let's proceed cautiously and first, do no harm.

what about if you’re only concerned about ldl

@@saliksayyar9793 Normal is the quantity manufactured by your liver. It will never make more than you need.

@@veena-usa I'm sorry, but that is only if you are healthy and don't have other risk factors and no CVD. The more risk factors you have, the more you have to control those that can be controlled, including cholesterol levels.

Whatever the statin industry tells the doctors. It used to be 200, then to sell more pills, they told the doctors 100.

I'm so sorry to hear this. :(

You’re welcome!

In this study, they only looked at “Total Cholesterol” and did not take into consideration any of the other cholesterol parameters. • A total cholesterol level of less than 200 mg/dL (5.17 mmol/L) is normal. • A total cholesterol level of 200 to 239 mg/dL (5.17 to 6.18 mmol/L) is moderately elevated. • A total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL (6.21 mmol/L) or greater is high. In the study that looked at people with normal cognition, the conversion to mild cognitive impairment was associated with those having a total cholesterol of less than 175 mg/dl and taking a lipophilic statin. In the study that looked at people with mild cognitive impairment, the conversion to dementia was associated with having a total cholesterol below 206 mg/dl and taking a lipophilic statin. Remember, this is considered an association and not proof that dementia, and mild cognitive impairment is caused by any statin. Researchers consider it "correlation, not causation." We need more studies that are larger and look at this as a "primary outcome." Until we know the facts, let's proceed cautiously and first, do no harm.

I checked out the GLP-1 plotter and it seems like a good estimate for an average person. It is really just an estimate though. Our bodies are all so different and with different enzyme levels and capabilities to break down a medication at different rates. There isn’t a home test that I’m aware of to check blood levels of medication in the body.

@veena-usa thank you for the info.I will read into the enzymes it sounds interesting.

Unfortunately, it’s true that statins can raise glucose levels in some people. I have been curious about the benefits / risks of carnivore since I learned about it just last year. Feel free to share any ups and downs of your carnivore diet with us and how it has changed your labs. I believe others are curious like me. Best of luck to you!

@@veena-usa it was good dropping the statin just to get rid of the daily muscle soreness.