Statins and memory (esp. in younger middle age)

[BenF]

Hello everyone,

I’ve had a look round the boards, but couldn’t see much info on this (though statins itself is discussed quite a lot).

I’ve been researching statin use and memory problems in e4s (I’m 3/4). I’ve always had high cholesterol, and about 7 years ago was put in simvastatin (I’m 42 years old now). I didn’t want to take too much, and took 20 for most of the 1st 4 years (with good enough lipid effects). Then, when I moved, doc put it to 40. Was a tough time in life, but eventually, I thought memory problems might be statin related, and I dropped down. Lifestyle changes sustained on 20 got me to a good lipid profile and now I’m cutting the 20mg tablets to only take about 2/3 of them, so like 14mg. Not done new lipids test, but I’m not worried about it really, as I share some of the scepticism of many here about cholesterol in metabolically healthy people.

Having listened to a couple of Peter Attia podcasts with Dayspring and Richard Isaacson and read a couple of papers (including this preprint on uk biobank - which I’ve not seen it in this forum) https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wile ... trc2.12156

Sorry in a hurry and cant work the hyperlink on my phone.

Evidence seems to be there that lipophilic statins like simvastatin are more likely to cause memory problems in e4s , perhaps more so in younger people. I’m going to change to a non lipophilic statin soon, but wanted to ask here what your experiences are of e4s, statins and memory. Additionally, are there any important papers I might have missed? (Sorry, but I cant tell you exactly what Ive read, so any thing important to you would be better)

Thanks

Ben

[ro.oconnor]

Hello everyone,

I’ve had a look round the boards, but couldn’t see much info on this (though statins itself is discussed quite a lot).

I’ve been researching statin use and memory problems in e4s (I’m 3/4). I’ve always had high cholesterol, and about 7 years ago was put in simvastatin (I’m 42 years old now). I didn’t want to take too much, and took 20 for most of the 1st 4 years (with good enough lipid effects). Then, when I moved, doc put it to 40. Was a tough time in life, but eventually, I thought memory problems might be statin related, and I dropped down. Lifestyle changes sustained on 20 got me to a good lipid profile and now I’m cutting the 20mg tablets to only take about 2/3 of them, so like 14mg. Not done new lipids test, but I’m not worried about it really, as I share some of the scepticism of many here about cholesterol in metabolically healthy people.

Having listened to a couple of Peter Attia podcasts with Dayspring and Richard Isaacson and read a couple of papers (including this preprint on uk biobank - which I’ve not seen it in this forum) https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wile ... trc2.12156

Sorry in a hurry and cant work the hyperlink on my phone.

Evidence seems to be there that lipophilic statins like simvastatin are more likely to cause memory problems in e4s , perhaps more so in younger people. I’m going to change to a non lipophilic statin soon, but wanted to ask here what your experiences are of e4s, statins and memory. Additionally, are there any important papers I might have missed? (Sorry, but I cant tell you exactly what Ive read, so any thing important to you would be better)

Thanks

Ben

A warm welcome to you, Ben! We are so glad you found us!

Thank you for joining the ApoE4 community and sharing your story. It’s commendable that you are taking control of your health and have a desire to learn and seek out solutions that work for you.

I see that you are looking specifically for answers around statins and memory, and that you have already taken a look around the forum and gleaned information from other resources, as well. Other members with expertise on this subject may respond to your post, or you can reach out to those who have previously posted on the subject.

As you may have already discovered in your look around the boards, there is a helpful search tool available in the top right-hand side of the webpage that you can access by selecting the three dots next to your log-in id. There you can search for topics (like statins and memory) in the various forums.

You may also find the Primer helpful, as it includes researched-based prevention strategies.

Additionally, you may want to check out the How-to Guide which includes tricks and tips for getting the most out of the discussion forums.

And finally, since you have already shared about your journey in your post, you may be interested in visiting Our Stories There you can browse the stories of other members and if you are comfortable, share your own.

I hope you will continue to find the site helpful on your health journey. If there is anything else you want to know and can't find it on the site, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Warmly,
Rosanne

[floramaria]

Hello everyone,

I’ve had a look round the boards, but couldn’t see much info on this (though statins itself is discussed quite a lot).

I’ve been researching statin use and memory problems in e4s (I’m 3/4). I’ve always had high cholesterol, and about 7 years ago was put in simvastatin (I’m 42 years old now). I didn’t want to take too much, and took 20 for most of the 1st 4 years (with good enough lipid effects). Then, when I moved, doc put it to 40. Was a tough time in life, but eventually, I thought memory problems might be statin related, and I dropped down. Lifestyle changes sustained on 20 got me to a good lipid profile and now I’m cutting the 20mg tablets to only take about 2/3 of them, so like 14mg. Not done new lipids test, but I’m not worried about it really, as I share some of the scepticism of many here about cholesterol in metabolically healthy people.

Having listened to a couple of Peter Attia podcasts with Dayspring and Richard Isaacson and read a couple of papers (including this preprint on uk biobank - which I’ve not seen it in this forum) https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wile ... trc2.12156

Sorry in a hurry and cant work the hyperlink on my phone.

Evidence seems to be there that lipophilic statins like simvastatin are more likely to cause memory problems in e4s , perhaps more so in younger people. I’m going to change to a non lipophilic statin soon, but wanted to ask here what your experiences are of e4s, statins and memory. Additionally, are there any important papers I might have missed? (Sorry, but I cant tell you exactly what Ive read, so any thing important to you would be better)

Thanks

Ben

Hi BenF, I wonder if you have tried using our Search function. Maybe you have since you note that stains are mentioned a lot. I just typed in “hydrophilic statins” and came up with a lot of posts. You can search for previous posts mentioning any word of phrase by clicking the magnifying glass to the left of your user name. If you haven’t used the Search function to pinpoint specific posts that mention hydrophilic and lipophilic statins, you might try searching those two terms.
Here is a quote from one of the posts I found, the second in the list of articles mentioning hydrophilic statins:
“The hydrophilic statins pravastatin and rosuvastatin are said to be less likely to enter the brain and interfere with cholesterol manufacture there (the brain makes its own cholesterol, IIRC).”
Since I am comfortable with my high cholesterol, I’m not one of the people here on the website with personal knowledge of stains, nor have I researched them myself. But others here have researched extensively and have posted links to many relevant articles.

Also I can offer a quote on the topic from Dr Bredesen’s book, The End of Alzheimer’s Program pg 126:
Statins can increase the likelihood of cognitive decline*.
For that reason when stains are necessary, such as in the case of familial hypercholesteremia, it’s important to work with your cardiologist. One approach may be to identify the lowest dose of a hydrophilic (as opposed to lipophilic)statin, combined with ezetimibe to reach your LDL-P goal while still protecting cholesterol synthesis in the brain.
(*there was a footnote for this statement which I did not look up)

[BenF]

Thanks a lot to both of you for your warm kind replies. I’ll try doing a better search on this site. I hadn’t done this as extensively as you suggest.

[floramaria]

Thanks a lot to both of you for your warm kind replies. I’ll try doing a better search on this site. I hadn’t done this as extensively as you suggest.

Good luck with your research!