Statins Protective Against Parkinson's: More Evidence

[Northerner]

Further evidence that statin use is associated with a reduction in risk for Parkinson's disease has come from a population study from Taiwan.

The study, published online in Neurology on July 24, was conducted by a team led by Yen-Chieh Lee, MD, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

In a large population of statin users, they found a lower risk for Parkinson's in those who continued taking lipophilic statins compared with those who discontinued statins upon having reached their cholesterol goal.

Authors of an accompanying editorial conclude, "For those who have to be on statins, it is a comforting thought that there is a potential added advantage of having a lower risk of PD [Parkinson's disease], and possibly other neurologic disorders as well."

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/808486

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[Vicsetter]

a) why would you stop taking statins when you have reached your cholesterol goal?
b) I thought parkinsons was uncontrolled muscle tremors - so the statins probably make the muscles so weak they can't twitch!

 

[Northerner]

What surprises me is that statins negatively affect remyelination, which directly affects the nervous system, so how can something that harms the nervous system protect against a disease of the nervous system?