Reply #6: interesting anecdotal report

[Celebration]

yikes--ALS, I know someone that dies of ALS who was on statins...............

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2006/07/subtle-effects-of-drug-sponsored.html

Parkinsonism unmasked by lovastatin.

Muller T, Kuhn W, Pohlau D, P
http://www.go3bj
my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 1 1/2 yrs ago( age 59 at the time) after being on Lipitor 10 mgm/day for 4+ yrs. 3 months prior to his diagnosis, my niece and I discovered our respective husbands were exhibiting the same neuro symptoms. we found both had been on lipitor for 4+ yrs. and in surface researching the drug, discovered it depletes the body of coenzyme q10. In simplistic wishful thinking way, my husband discontinued the lipitor and began taking coq10 @ 100 mgm/day. 3 moths later, the neurologist he consulted for the first time made the diagnosis of parkinson's and stated there were no "traditional" anti parkinson's drugs for early onset patients, but there was a supplement he could recommend that had shown efficacy in patients with early onset Parkinson's--that supplement: coenzyme Q10 @ 1200 mgm/day (reported in a study by Clifford Shults, et al in the Annals of Neurology, 2002). we were shocked and no longer felt it simplistic to associate Parkinson's and statin use. My husband was also an avid exerciser--was a 6 day/week jogger prior to his symptoms development (there is some evidence that those individuals who are/were avid exercisers are more prone to adverse statin effects because of the molecular effects of statins upon muscles)--my niece's husband was also an avid exciser, jogger, and scratch handicap golfer.
when first diagnosed, my husband asked a friend who is a diagnostic radiologist about PET Scan use to determine if one does have Parkinson's--when the radiologist asked why he wanted the scan my husband told him that I thought this was all a statin toxicity to which the doc replied that during the past yr he had consulted upon about 2000 patients, and 40 of those were initially diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) that in fact had a statin toxicity. When my husband inquired how he knew to look for statin use in these individuals, the doc replied that his first patient with swallowing and speech difficulty diagnosed as possible ALS was his wife. If one accesses the MDA (muscular dystrophy assoc) web site, there was a feature "ask the expert"--under the heading of ALS, there were 16 questions and answers printed during a 4 month period of time. 4 of those 16 questions or 25% specifically asked if a statin was associated with the onset of ALS in each individual:http://www.mdausa.org/experts/responses.cfm?id=66

Yes, it could easily be coincidence, though could also easily be related instances.