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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Do Statins Help In The Prevention Of Elevated Cholesterol Levels?

I was reading an article Medicine s magic Bullets written by Jeanie Lenzer and it has given me pause when it comes to statin like Lipitor for my elevated cholesterol 180/40. Specifically when a former NASA astronaut suffered a bizare episode in 1999 of memory loss and then memory recovery with in hours. This is a strange episode of transient global amnesia, or TGA. The cause? Unknown. Since the time the above article was written has it been figured out? Is it possible you can lower cholesterol level with a drug, yet provide no health benefits? I guess my last question would be are there any studies that show statins were beneficial for primary prevention?
Wed, 21 Feb 2018
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Cardiologist,  's  Response
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would not recommend taking statins unless you have dyslipidemia.

You should know that our brain is made in great part from cholesterol. So cutting of cholesterol levels, can lead to memory problems.

It is well studied that low cholesterol levels can lead to amnesia, insomnia and depression.

So, I would not recommend statins for primary prevention, unless there is dyslipidemia (Total cholesterol/HDL ratio above 4.5 and LDL/HDL ratio above 3.5).

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri
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How Do Statins Help In The Prevention Of Elevated Cholesterol Levels?

Hello! Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM! Regarding your concern, I would not recommend taking statins unless you have dyslipidemia. You should know that our brain is made in great part from cholesterol. So cutting of cholesterol levels, can lead to memory problems. It is well studied that low cholesterol levels can lead to amnesia, insomnia and depression. So, I would not recommend statins for primary prevention, unless there is dyslipidemia (Total cholesterol/HDL ratio above 4.5 and LDL/HDL ratio above 3.5). Hope to have been helpful! Kind regards, Dr. Iliri