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We must study the effect statins have on the brain
• THE coroner’s direction to the jury on the tragic death of Dr Allan Woolley is important as it will have been evidence-based (Superdrug death link? January 10).
There is an issue with the use of statins which I do not think has been properly explored. The brain synthesises its own cholesterol for its growth, function, maintenance and repair processes.
It does not import cholesterol from the blood so how ever much or little is in the blood is irrelevant to the brain which is highly protective of its internal environment.
If statins penetrate the brain and reduce cholesterol synthesis then a disturbance of function is predictable.
You report Dr Fredric Steinberg to say psychic disturbances were among the “rare” side effects and refers to the small number of suicides compared to the large number of lives theoretically saved.
So the treatment is cost-effective.
However, suicide is not a cut-off point below which there is no other effect on brain function. There will be a gradation with suicide as the extreme expression or, if you like, the tip of an iceberg.
In the 1970s we published details on the brain’s requirement for a specific omega 3 fatty acid.
A link between mental disorders and suicide with a lack of omega 3 fatty acids has been described by Dr Joseph Hibbeln at the National Institutes for Health, USA.
A large clinical trial in Italy showed that omega 3 fatty acids are also very effective against sudden death from heart disease.
As a dietary constituent they have no side effects but benefit cognitive and visual development, and seemingly protect against Alzheimer’s.
Much more research on the effects of the statins on the brain is urgently needed.
It may for example be possible that a combination of statins and specific omega 3 fatty acids could protect against side effects of the statins on the brain and additionally support both heart and brain structure and function, a feature which statins cannot do on their own.
Professor Michael A Crawford
Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition,
London Metropolitan University, N7
Symptoms the same
• I HAVE just read the article “Superdrug death link?” ( January 10) and I am very shocked because I have suffered the same symptoms as Dr Allan Woolley from what I believe was the statin drug simvastatin.
I was having sleepless nights and feeling unwell when I had a massive seizure which resulted in both my shoulders and arms being broken and dislocated as a result of the seizure.
I had to have replacement arm and shoulder surgery and I have been off work for over four months.
This happened at end of August.
I have had all neurological and cardiological tests including MRI and CT scans and nobody can confirm what caused this seizure. I asked all the doctors if it could be the simvastatin drug but they, of course, said no.
I am now convinced it was the simvastatin.
I am also a 52-year-old male living in West Hampstead.
I have been taking the drug for approx nine months.
name and address supplied
A stark choice
• AS someone who has been taking statins for years following a heart attack, I can vouch for the fact that they have powerfully obnoxious side effects.
I have tried two varieties and both have had similar effects.
I have not suffered psychotic episodes such as those which afflicted the unfortunate Dr Allan Woolley before his suicide.
However, I have experienced severely disabling symptoms such as intense aching, especially in the hands, permanent fatigue and a diminution of mental function, especially of memory and concentration (I now have to consciously concentrate on what I am doing rather than simply doing it without thinking, while my power of immediate recall, previously very good, is now poor.)
I feel as though I am moving around in a fog most of the time. It is only recently that I realised statins were responsible for such symptoms – for years I attributed them to the process of ageing and the after effects of the heart attack.
In 2007 I read several articles by Dr James Le Fanu who both questioned the general value of statins and described the side effects: “Statins are useless for 95 per cent of those taking them, while exposing all to the hazard of serious side-effects … they seriously interfere with the functioning of the nerve cells, affecting mental function, and muscles.” (Sunday Telegraph, March 17 2007).
He concluded that only those with a personal or family history of heart trouble should take them.
Why am I still taking statins?
Well I made an experiment – with the agreement of my consultant – of stopping the medication for a few weeks. The symptoms lessened within a few days and after a couple of weeks had become considerably improved. I then had a blood test which showed my cholesterol, previously within normal limits, had shot up.
As someone who has both had a heart attack and has a serious family history of heart trouble, I was left with the choice between taking the statins and feeling like death warmed up or of greatly increasing my risk of heart attack and stroke. It is a choice between the Devil and the deep blue sea.
Robert Henderson
Chalton Street, NW1
‘Rescued’
• THANK you coroner. Dr Allan Woolley died for pharmaceutical profit.
Since being rescued from statins myself, I have investigated and found them to be dangerous on two counts.
1) They suppress our bodies’ ability to make a range of substances we require for normal daily functioning of muscles, nerves and brain (mevalonate inhibition).
2) Cholesterol is vital to health! Ask what it does and why we make so much of it.
Cholesterol was never guilty and no convincing scientific proof of it becoming harmful was ever produced.
Why do biochemists allow medics to believe this toxic nonsense?
Glyn Wainwright
Leeds via email
Damaging
• MY heart goes out to Dr Allan Woolley’s family. My own husband has been disabled by Lipitor adverse effects for over six years, and he, too, experienced the unbearable debilitating pain these statins cause. The statin caused nerve damage, muscle damage, and cognitive damage, including multiple witnessed episodes of transient global amnesia, short-term memory loss to the point where he could not retain more than a five-word sentence – What do you want for dinner? is six words, and beyond comprehension after 10 mg/day of Lipitor for four years), aphasia, rhabdomyolysis, mitochondrial damage, and pancreatitis.
The statin side effects destroy quality of life, but it is worse that in Dr Woolley’s case they destroyed his very life.
Dr Woolley, his family, and every patient taking a statin and their family members all deserve a thorough and complete inquest that investigates the mitochondrial cell integrity and the nerve synapses in muscle and brain to see the physical damage that statins cause. Liver, kidney, pancreas and retinas need to also be examined for damage typical of statins. The statin adverse effects FAQ contains over 85 pages of medical journal publications specific to statin damage. Dr Woolley’s remains should be examined for every category of damage. He cannot truly be put to rest with anything less.
Sharon Hope
via email
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