Statins Linked to Alzheimer's?

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, January 16, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The results of a recent study has scientists concerned about a possible link between statins -- the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs -- and Parkinson's disease.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered people with low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) -- "bad" cholesterol -- are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people who have higher levels of LDL.

UNC researcher Xuemei Huang, M.D., Ph.D., reports the link raises questions about whether cholesterol-lowering drugs, like statins, could increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Huang and colleagues are now planning a study to further investigate this possibility and other reasons for the unexplained link. In a UNC press release, she reports she would not recommend people change eating habits or stop taking prescribed medications because of the preliminary results of her small study. She cautions previous studies have linked smoking tobacco to a reduced risk of Parkinson's, but health providers would never suggest smoking.

Parkinson's patients are more likely to carry the gene APOE-2, which is linked to lower LDL levels, reports Dr. Huang. This is another area she will explore in her upcoming study.

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SOURCE: Chemistry & Industry, 2007;January 15:4; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill press release, Dec. 18, 2006