Simvastatin Causes Changes in Affective Processes in Elderly Volunteers

That's the title of a report published on page 70 of the January 2006 issue of Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Is this important? I think so. It demonstrates that at least one of the statin drugs does something to change mood. It probably does it by bringing about changes in the brain - either in its structure or in its operation.

But, you might ask, how can a drug that lowers cholesterol change your brain?  To start, brain tissue contains a lot of lipid/fat. Every nerve, for example, is coated with it, like the insulation on a wire. It's called the myelin sheath. Logically, then, anything that can lower lipid levels is likely to lower it throughout the body - including the brain.

I am not convinced that cholesterol itself causes any medical problems, including heart disease. Merely lowering cholesterol will not reduce the risk of heart disease.

I agree that elevated cholesterol is associated with disease but that does not mean that it causes the disease. Instead, I am convinced that heart disease and elevated cholesterol are probably the result of something, probably the same thing.

The fact that cholesterol levels fall when people take certain B-vitamins suggests strongly that elevated cholesterol is the result of a nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiencies are closely associated with heart disease. It seems very clear, then, that correcting a nutritional problem can lower cholesterol and reduce risk. But, that's too simple an explanation. Why improve your diet when there's a drug available (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

The title of this newsletter is "Statins Might Make You Dumb?" because I'm making a logical connection between lowering lipid levels and brain functions. The study makes a clear point that aggressively lowering lipids with simvastatin changes affect (mood). If it can do that it can probably also make other changes in brain function - like thinking, memory, and so on.

I conclude that using chemicals to lower lipids probably have a negative impact on the overall functioning of the brain.

Would you really want to have a healthy heart and be too stupid to enjoy it.

Simvastatin (ZOCOR) is a lipid lowering drug. It isn't the only one but it's the one mentioned in this study.

DEFINITION: AFFECT is a subjectively experienced feeling state (emotion) and the observable behavior that represents it.