Statin Drugs & Memory Loss
Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:30 pm
Something to keep in mind when you are seeing people and they might be on
these INSANE drugs for no reason other than to make money
Sheri
(more here http://www.redflagsweekly.com/kendrick/2002_nov28.html)
Subject: Statin Drugs & Memory Loss
Dr Graveline's articles are a must read and great follow up to my earlier
post
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... atin_drugs
.htm
(many of these URL's span 2 lines so you will have to paste the 2nd line to
the first)
Bad News About Statin Drugs". Here again is another incredibly serious side
effect that's great for
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/PHAR ... _the_pharm
aceutical_industry.htm
business with disease but certainly not what the customer expects and gets....
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/ ... /7426/1267
Recommended risk scoring methods overestimated coronary risk in a
representative British male population" One has to wonder how many
Alzheimer's Dementia cases are a result of this non essential treatment, in
the first place, let alone the fact that the whole cholesterol hypothesis
is based on smoke and mirrors. See:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... holesterol_
amongst_friends.htm
What's a little cholesterol amongst friends?". More "evidence for profit
based medicine" not that more is needed but then it keeps falling on deaf
ears and they keep getting away with it.
There are so many
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... letter_and
_my_fmscfids_website.htm
iatrogenic complications that one must try, as best as possible, to take
matters in their own hands or be subjected to these sleeping, incompetent
and/or corrupt charlatans. To get started on your own research for heart
disease see:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... lutions_to
_heart_disease.htm
Orthomolecular Solutions to Heart Disease".
Chris Gupta
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... y_loss.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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http://www.thincs.org/WAPF2003.htm#Duane
Transient Global Amnesia - A Side Effect of Statin Treatment
Duane Graveline, MD, former NASA Astronaut, USAF Flight Surgeon, Space
Medicine Research Scientist, Family Doctor. 4414 Cormorant Ln., Merritt
Island, FL 32953
Try to imagine the complete inability to formulate new memory. This
condition is known as transient global amnesia, now known to be associated
with statin drug use. My first encounter occurred six weeks after my annual
astronaut physical at Johnson Space Center. Despite regular exercise,
weight maintenance and proper diet my total serum cholesterol had risen to
250 mg and the recommendation of the flight surgeons there was to start
Lipitor, 10 mg daily. My wife noticed
me walking aimlessly about the yard after my return from my usual walk. I
did not know who she was and would not enter our house. Our family doctor
referred me immediately to a neurologist and finally, in the office of the
neurologist, my senses returned to normal. Following a negative MRI the
following day, the diagnosis of transient global amnesia was made. I
discontinued Lipitor because I suspected it was the cause.
At my next NASA physical I was assured that statin drugs do not do this.
Reluctantly I started again with 5 mg, daily, one-half my previous dose.
Six weeks later I descended again into the black pit of amnesia, this time
for an extraordinary 12 hours. In addition to the mainly antegrade amnesia
which characterized my first attack, this time I had a retrograde element
all the way back to my high school days. Gone was my medical school
training, USAF flight surgeon career, my marriage and four children and
even my selection as scientist astronaut. Again the same doctors made the
same diagnosis, transient global amnesia. Again I stopped Lipitor on my own
knowing it was the cause but I was the only one convinced.
Several months later I got in contact with the statin drug study at UCSD's
College of Medicine. There, Dr. Beatrice Golomb reported she had several
cases just like mine. A few days later, thanks to the Graedons of the radio
program Peoples Pharmacy, thousands of case reports of memory dysfunction
started flooding in from patients across the country, all with the same
common thread - association with statin drug use.
And the amnesia is
just the tip of the iceberg of the true incidence of memory impairment
associated with Lipitor, Mevacor and Zocor. For every case of amnesia,
thousands of cases of extreme forgetfullness, incapacitating confusion and
profound disorientation have been and are being reported. Neither patients
nor doctors are aware of this side effect.
The Statin Dialogues ( Side
Effects of Lipitor and similar statins )
Cast of Characters
Almighty: The powerful makers, promoters and distributors of the stronger
statin drugs ( Lipitor, Zocor and Mevacor ).
Candide: Innocent and skeptical doctors and their patients.
Watchover: FDA's medwatch program.
Shield: Pharmaceutical companies adverse drug event reporting program.
PDR: Physician Desk reference of drug use and effects.
Almighty: "Our wise counselors tell us the time has come to promote the use
of our wonderful statin drugs to an even wider audience. Perhaps all blood
relatives and even children now should be included in our primary
prevention efforts. It is for the common good that we seek this."
Candide: "We admire your promotional efforts but what of the side effect
issue? Certainly this deserves some consideration."
Almighty: "The side effects are but a nuisance - a minor and almost
negligible factor with this fine product. Think of the thousands of lives
we are saving. Is there any real doubt as to the common good of our efforts?"
Candide: Over fifty deaths occurred among users of your fine statin drug,
Baycol, only recently removed from the market. I do not consider this minor
or negligible nor do you, I am sure. I am very concerned about these
deaths. Why did there have to be in excess of fifty tragic events before
action was taken? Would not ten have been sufficient, or even one? What say
you to this?"
Almighty: "This was a failure of your government's Watchover program, not
ours. We have been scrupulous in our adherance to governmental guideline`s.
Deficiencies such as you describe are attributable solely to guideline
inadequacies. Certainly our vigilant Shield program gave us no warning.
Candide: "May I say that your Shield program in its present form may be
more protective for you than the public? In its present form your so called
drug hotline is nothing more than a barrier, prohibiting, rather than
encouraging, communication with those among you serving as medical
advisors. Manned by robots only superficially resembling life forms their
response to an earnest request to talk with someone with authority is
considerably less than satisfying."
Almighty: "Your critical statement is completely unjust. Think of the good
we are doing from the extensive use of our statin products and the lives we
are saving? Millions of people now are taking our products. Most assuredly
our sentiments are for the health of the public."
Candide: "I appreciate the saving of lives but at what cost? On the subject
of cost may I state as an aside that the astronomical financial rewards you
have derived thus far from your drugs already have vastly exceeded your
developmental costs yet we still must pay the same exorbitant price we paid
years ago. I sense greed here but the costs I was referring to are the
costs of pain and suffering as well as deaths in some users of your wonder
drugs. Is this really necessary?"
Almighty: "This war against mankind's greatest threat, that of
atherosclerotic occlusion of major arteries due to cholesterol plaques,
cannot be fought without some casualties. There has never been an effective
treatment without some side effects. We consider the record of the statin
drugs in this respect to be exemplary."
Candide: "What you say is generally true with the possible exception of
your Baycol drug but because of the vast numbers of people now taking
statin drugs even a one in a thousand incidence of a problem, low by any
reckoning, becomes one thousand when a million people are taking this drug.
Total Global Amnesia, once so rare that most physicians have never seen a
case in their entire careers, is now quite common in our emergency rooms
associated with simply being on a statin drug. But amnesia is only the tip
of the iceberg. For every amnesia case report there are hundreds if not
thousands of cases of confusion and severe memory disturbance associated
with being on statin drugs."
Almighty: "Memory disturbance you say. What person over the age of fifty
has not encountered memory disturbance, long before the advent of statin
drugs."
Candide: "Right you are and therein lies the problem. For years patients
have been interpreting deterioration of memory shortly after starting
statin medications as simply coincidental presenility or the earliest
harbingers of Alzheimers, never making the association that these symptoms
might be a side effect of a medication their physicians have prescribed.
Similarly, physicians have tended to discount patient reports for the same
reasons, never suspecting the medication the drug company's detail men have
been pushing could be subtly aggravating the relatively common complaint of
memory problems among those over the age of fifty. This also could explain
very well the failure of your Shield program to alert you that statin drugs
might be causing serious cognitive problems. Neither patient nor doctor is
likely to file an adverse drug report when they firmly believe they are
dealing with advancing senility."
Almighty: "But we have listed these very problems in our PDRs description
of possible side effects. What more can we do?"
Candide: "Could it be that your presentation of memory and amnesia in your
side effect profile may be more like burying them amidst the confusing
paradoxes of both agitation and lethargy, constipation and diarrhea,
drowsiness and sleeplessness or both high blood pressure and low blood
pressure often reported side by side as possibly related to statin use in
some people. I consider presentation in this format beyond reasonable
interpretation of even the most trusting and dedicated practitioner? Could
we suggest that, like your adverse drug reporting system, such presentation
is more for your legal protection than doctor edification?"
"What we are concerned about here is the relative significance of memory
loss and amnesia compared with most of the other possible side effects. Our
memory is what makes us what we are. To be deprived of memory, however
transitory, is comparable to one's never having existed for that time
period - to suddenly disappear from life as we know it. This is not a
complaint to be buried with constipation and insomnia. Memory is the
essence of what we are. And to be deprived of memory can place one in
harm's way. Their very lives or the lives of others may be at risk because
of that transitory period of lapse."
Almighty: "You have made your point that memory and amnesia are important
in our daily lives but aren't you exaggerating things a bit. Can you relate
even one case report where someone has been harmed because of poor memory
attributable to our statins?"
Candide: "My inability to cite a specific instance at this point is the
very same reason that your Watchover and Shield programs have failed to
alert you promptly - lack of awareness among the general public and primary
care physicians that cognitive side effects can result from statin drug
use. So when a senior citizen goes on a two-day "walkabout" or, much worse,
drives his car across three states in a whirlwind of wanderlust with
absolutely no recollection when finally apprehended, rarely is the
association made between his actions and his medications. One of our
doctors, a senior primary care physician, who experienced a prolonged
episode of total global amnesia six weeks after having been placed on
Lipitor, reported that neither the emergency room doctors or the attending
neurologist had the slightest awareness that their might be a relationship
between this drug and his amnesia. The following year this same doctor when
re-challenged by Lipitor at one-half the previous dose experienced a much
longer amnesia episode shortly thereafter in which he regressed nearly to
his teens with absolutely no recollection for the intervening fifty years.
Again the same doctors marveled over his completely classic Total Global
Amnesia while expressing strong doubts as to any possibility of a
relationship with a statin drug. Incidentally this same doctor has
expressed the gravest concern as to what might have happened had he been an
airline pilot or a school bus driver when his statin drug abruptly took
control of his life. Later he added that had he been flying his
ultra-light, a common past-time for him, loss of control would have been
inevitable."
Almighty: "An interesting, even amusing anecdote of no real consequence and
explainable equally by other non-drug factors, which have been around long
before statin drugs and you must agree that no harm resulted. Since you are
unable to cite for me even one instance of harm resulting from statin drug
induced transient memory loss and confusion, I rest my case as to the
inherent safety of our remarkable product."
Candide: "Even though I have no actual record of physical harm you know as
well as I that physical harm may well have occurred, not once but perhaps
many times. Did you not just express to me your surprise and even shock at
the numbers of Baycol deaths? Is anything more harmful than death?
Certainly I did not know of these deaths until the time when the
unfortunate drug was abruptly removed from the market. So the credibility
of your Shield and FDA's Watchover programs has been seriously compromised.
You might say it is lacking. Perhaps you should tell ME how much evidence
of physical harm you people are sitting on, no doubt hoping it might just
go away.
Almighty: "Surely you do not mean this terrible allegation? Tell me you
jest? I promise you that if anyone had reported cases of this type to our
Shield program, we would have been the first to react. Our product is a
boon to society. The only problem of substance I see is that we are not
reaching all those unfortunates who are in dire need of statin therapy.
Your quibbling about your rare, relatively minor and quite harmless
cognitive side effects may seriously hamper our outreach efforts."
Candide: "Again I must direct your attention back to the point we already
have made. Lack of physician and patient awareness of possible
relationships between cognitive side effects and the use of statin drugs
almost guarantees that no instances of accident and statin drug use will be
reported to you. The medical examiner or police are very satisfied with a
"touch of senility" or "senior moment" causation in this climate of
complete statin "safety" you have established. Rare is the examiner who
would look more closely."
"Let us redirect our attention again to the subject of harm and this time
view harm from a different perspective - that of psychological harm. Here I
am speaking of the reports we have received from guilt ridden and
thoroughly angry sons and daughters who watched their parents rapidly
descend into dementia shortly after having been started on statins by their
doctors who were striving only for the very best preventive care. We now
know that many of these cases were not coincidental senility or Alzheimer's
disease but drug induced cognitive side effects. The harm here is to the
guilt-ridden relatives who now suspect the statin drug and especially to
the prescribing doctor who forever will be regarded by them as inadequate
at best and possibly negligent. This well-intentioned doctor may be
completely unable to accept the reality that he may have been contributing
to this sad state of affairs. He has been using this drug for years and
only now is the cognitive issue surfacing. His ignorance of a possible
relationship between his statin prescriptions and the subsequent decline in
mental faculties of his patients is because you have buried this
information in your PDR rather than effectively presenting it. This doctor
has been wounded just as critically as the bereaved children. In light of
this reality please do not say to me how "harmless" is your statin."
Almighty: "Why will you not accept that theses infrequent cases you cite
are simply co-incidental, nothing else? One of our very learned colleagues
in the hallowed halls of Pfizer has recently stated that, "There is a lot
of evidence that statins improve memory function and no good evidence that
it affects memory in a negative way." What say you to this?"
Candide: "If this man be truly learned then I would say he is ignorant of
the data which now exists and which I have seen. If, on the other hand, he
has seen this data and can still make that statement then he is a fool,
wearing the hat of medical advisor but not qualified for it."
Almighty: "Strong words, indeed, and perhaps brash. May I ask why you feel
qualified to pontificate so authoritatively on this subject?"
Candide: "I am trained, I have seen the data and I am not on your payroll.
The last point is perhaps the most important - for the advice of a hireling
is always confounded by secondary gain. A truly wise man always seeks
independent counsel."
Almighty: "I want you to know that all of my many advisors flatly dispute
the notion that statins contribute to memory problems but your words have
strange appeal. Tell me more, especially about Total Global Amnesia but be
warned that this condition is described in a medical encyclopedia printed
long before the development of statins. Common sense would compel me to ask
why you look to statins as the cause?"
Candide: "You ask a fair question and I have an answer that, in my opinion,
is equally fair. When I was in my first year of medical school, Total
Global Amnesia was described in my texts as a condition so rare that few
physicians ever saw even one case. I was to practice medicine for nearly
fifty years without encountering it. Now in this past year I have
encountered a veritable flood of reports from all walks of life and across
a wide spectrum of ages, all associated with statin drug use."
Almighty: "But my medical advisors tell me such reports are anecdotal and
not to be considered as definitive evidence."
Candide: "Not admissible in your corporate court, therefore? I challenge
your cavalier dismissal of such information. My medical professor used to
say - listen carefully to the words of your patient. He is telling you the
diagnosis. I would say the same to you - listen carefully to these case
reports, for they are telling you a problem exists. To ignore them for no
other reason than because they lack the double-blind format of standard
research data is to deny they exist. Protocol appears to have blinded your
advisors. None are so blind as those who will not see."
Almighty: "I wish to state for the record that we strive to do what is best
for our public, which includes common citizens as well as our many
shareholders. That we have saved thousands from premature strokes and heart
attacks through the use of statins is accepted throughout the medical
community. That a healthy pharmaceutical industry is good for society in
general is also accepted. Now suppose you tell me of some of these case
reports so that I may judge for myself how heavily they tilt the scale of
justice.'
Candide: " I agree that you undoubtedly have prolonged the lives of
thousands of individuals who tolerate the statin class of drugs. My concern
quite obviously is not with your successes but with the large numbers of
patients having intolerable and harmful side effects. How much a price must
society pay for your successes? You pointedly left unsaid that your statin
drug is now a multi-billion dollar industry. May I suggest these profit
dollars and homage to your shareholders weigh heavily on your scale of
justice? I never trust the words of those who would profit from them nor
could I ever trust judgments you make of your statin "cash cow" but I will
cite some of these cases if it pleases you."
"A wonderfully bright and witty lady, recently retired to her rural home
after a rewarding career as top-level administrative secretary, awoke one
morning to view new snowfall and the realization that she must go outside
to split some wood for her kitchen stove. One can imagine her surprise when
after opening the kitchen door she noted wood already split and piled
somewhat haphazardly on her porch. Also evident were numerous footprints in
the new snow suggesting to her that the nice young man next door must have
done her the favor of splitting her wood, although this had not happened
before. After collecting a few pieces of wood for her stove and returning
to her kitchen she noted a partially consumed plate of food on the table.
Someone had entered her home, she thought, and helped himself to food from
her refrigerator. Now alarmed and confused, she naturally suspected an
intruder, prompting her to do a thorough search of her home. Finding no one
and about to call the police she took another look at her porch. It was
then she noted that the pattern of all the prints matched the pattern on
the sole of her winter boots. Realization dawned -she was both the
well-intentioned neighbor and hungry intruder. Her anxiety over this alien
amnesia lingered for weeks despite reassurances from the emergency room
doctors that all her tests were negative and that her symptoms possibly
were due to Lipitor, her new statin drug, which she stopped immediately.
Constantly she wondered when and if this strange abduction of her memory
would recur. Only when she learned of the compilation of similar statin
related cases by a doctor at San Diego medical college did her confidence
begin to return and her feelings of anxiety slowly disappear."
Almighty: "Bravo. You have thoroughly entertained me with this colorful
anecdote, which my medical advisors tell me could have related just as
directly to a purely co-incidental psychomotor seizure or a transient
ischemic attack. Do you have any cases that prove anything other than your
ability to entertain?"
Candide: "There are many similar cases but I feel I am wasting my mind. As
already I have said, "None are so blind as those who will not see."
Almighty: "Perhaps you should be telling all this to Watchover, FDA's
mechanism for the reporting of adverse drug reactions. Certainly if we have
missed something in our own Shield program, Watchover will pick it up."
Candide: "Watchover was informed of each Baycol death as it occurred during
these past two years but bureaucratic inertia allowed over fifty fatalities
to occur before action was taken placing the credibility and effectiveness
of FDA in serious question. Watchover has been informed of each of these
memory loss case reports and after two years of review still has been
unable to make a decision. The overwhelming majority of prescribing
physicians in the United States today are completely unaware of the
potential of statin drugs to alter memory."
Almighty: "Suppose you tell me more of these cases. If nothing else they
are quite entertaining."
Candide: "I will continue to entertain you as you wish if for no other
reason than the chance, however slight, that the sheer numbers may impress
you even though your medical advisors still discount them."
"A husband noted for his sharp mind and ability for almost total recall got
out of bed wondering what day of the week it was. His surprised wife
quickly ascertained he did not even know what month it was. She reported he
nearly drove her crazy asking this same question over and over again
despite her repeated reassurance as to time and date. He knew nothing of
their stocks and other money matters and could not understand how his wife
could know all these things and he could not. Emergency room workup was
negative Condition cleared completely after eight hours. Neurologist
diagnosed Transient Global Amnesia, cause unknown but Zocor was suspected
as it had been started six weeks earlier. The patient discontinued this
drug and remained well."
"A university professor who always remembered everything lost an entire day
during his first encounter with memory loss while on Lipitor. Weeks later
during his second, he was unable remember his social security, telephone or
bankcard numbers and could not even remember his birthdate. Suspecting
Alzheimer's disease he had himself screened by a neurologist with negative
findings. Only after his family doctor fortuitously substituted Pravachol
(because of his complaints of co-existing muscle pain) did the amnesia
episodes clear completely."
"A young loadmaster in the United States Air Force, who by the way is
responsible for the proper loading of our military's huge cargo planes, was
given a waiver for flight status for the use of Lipitor for cholesterol
control. He soon began to experience multiple episodes of what he termed
"short term memory loss". He stopped taking Lipitor immediately after
learning of the possibility of such side effects from the Internet and his
symptoms slowly regressed. He was very concerned that they persisted for
several weeks after stopping the drug."
"A man parked by the side of the road on a dark night was interrogated by a
state trooper and found to be lost, not having the slightest recall for
traveling to this unusual site far off the beaten track and many miles away
from his home. The trooper naturally suspected alcoholism but the man
recently had started Lipitor. His attempts to offer this drug as a possible
cause for his confusion fell on deaf ears but when several more similar
episodes occurred the patient self diagnosed cognitive side effects of
Lipitor and stopped the drug. The episodes slowly ceased. Despite his
inability to convince his doctor he remains forever certain that his
confusion and amnesia were Lipitor related."
"A former CEO of a company, known as a thoroughly competent, high
achieving, typically type A personality, had been on Lipitor for nearly
three years before being struck down by severe myositis and memory defects.
He reported a bizarre episode of total global amnesia three months after
discontinuation of the drug. His serum enzymes at that time, though
improved, still were moderately elevated. His muscle pain was improving. He
remarked to his wife that because their swimming pool, neglected by his
recent near incapacitation with muscle pain, was green with algae he had to
get some pool chlorine and other supplies. Imagine his surprise when after
making a purchase of several gallons of chlorine and returning to his car,
he found in the trunk a similar supply of chlorine already purchased.
Distraught, he called his wife who determined from the sales slip that he
had made the chlorine purchase the day before at a completely different
store. He had absolutely no recall for having done this but there was no
doubt that he had done it for his daughter had seen him while engaged in
this purchase. She had been somewhat concerned because she had waved from
her car as they always did and he had not responded. He did not acknowledge
her presence in her very distinctive car. Always they had greeted each
other with hand waving in a warm friendly fashion. In her judgment there
was no possibility that he had not seen her. He simply had not been able to
recognize her or the car despite their close proximity. She passed it off
as just one of those things until her mother called the next day and they
compared notes. The husband and father could function sufficiently to drive
to a store and make a credit card purchase yet he was a completely
different man who seemed to have regressed in memory then so that he no
longer knew his adult daughter. Once having identified this "flashback "
sort of a reaction the family began a more serious review of the father's
memory problems of the past while still on Lipitor and discovered many more
unreported, strange episodes. One time he abruptly realized he inexplicably
was on a freeway, heading away form home in the wrong direction from
anything he intended to do. He passed it off as being preoccupied. On
another occasion he left in the morning to do some shore fishing. Later
that day when asked if he went fishing he could not recall and was clearly
flustered. On another occasion he called his wife on his cell phone to ask
why he was in the Home Depot parking lot. He had planned to run some
errands but none involved Home Depot. Woodworking materials were cut
repeatedly and remained unused as he cut them out again and again. His wife
feels that since the cessation of Lipitor he seems to be improving in that
his episodes are less frequent but of course they are better reported in
that the entire family is looking for these events and monitoring him
closely. His pattern of amnesia episodes illustrate a very important fact
about documenting such events - there has to be an observer for accurate
reporting. The patient has no recall especially for the more mild events.
Only if considerable time has passed or the patient winds up in an usual
location, is he prompted to consider that something unusual has occurred.
In the absence of an observer any patient history is apt to be very
miss-leading."
"I could go on and on with these anecdotes, as you call them, but in my
world they are patient case reports and would prompt most doctors to
examine them critically, especially doctors affiliated with a
pharmaceutical industry. What more can I say? You will note that in most of
these cases it is the patient or family members who make the diagnosis not
the prescribing doctor, so complete has been your PDR brainwashing."
Almighty: "I admit the shear numbers of reports almost forces a
reconsideration of our labeling but remember, we long have stated that
memory problems can occur with our statins. We are not our brother's
keeper. What more can we do?"
Candide: "If you mean by that statement that your PDR listing of amnesia in
its voluminous list of possible side effects absolves you from further
responsibility you are wrong. You have not effectively communicated the
problem of statin associated cognitive side effects to your doctors. I
demand special labeling. I want all prescribing physicians to know of this
possibility, however rare, so that when memory problems and growing
confusion are reported to them by distraught patients, statin drug side
effect should be the first thing the doctor thinks of, not the last. When
that time comes I shall be satisfied."
The end.
statinstudy@ucsd.edu Duane 'Doc' Graveline
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/
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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
Well Within & Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours (worldwide)
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm
homeopathycures@tesco.net
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these INSANE drugs for no reason other than to make money
Sheri
(more here http://www.redflagsweekly.com/kendrick/2002_nov28.html)
Subject: Statin Drugs & Memory Loss
Dr Graveline's articles are a must read and great follow up to my earlier
post
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... atin_drugs
.htm
(many of these URL's span 2 lines so you will have to paste the 2nd line to
the first)
Bad News About Statin Drugs". Here again is another incredibly serious side
effect that's great for
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/PHAR ... _the_pharm
aceutical_industry.htm
business with disease but certainly not what the customer expects and gets....
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/ ... /7426/1267
Recommended risk scoring methods overestimated coronary risk in a
representative British male population" One has to wonder how many
Alzheimer's Dementia cases are a result of this non essential treatment, in
the first place, let alone the fact that the whole cholesterol hypothesis
is based on smoke and mirrors. See:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... holesterol_
amongst_friends.htm
What's a little cholesterol amongst friends?". More "evidence for profit
based medicine" not that more is needed but then it keeps falling on deaf
ears and they keep getting away with it.
There are so many
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... letter_and
_my_fmscfids_website.htm
iatrogenic complications that one must try, as best as possible, to take
matters in their own hands or be subjected to these sleeping, incompetent
and/or corrupt charlatans. To get started on your own research for heart
disease see:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... lutions_to
_heart_disease.htm
Orthomolecular Solutions to Heart Disease".
Chris Gupta
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2 ... y_loss.htm
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http://www.thincs.org/WAPF2003.htm#Duane
Transient Global Amnesia - A Side Effect of Statin Treatment
Duane Graveline, MD, former NASA Astronaut, USAF Flight Surgeon, Space
Medicine Research Scientist, Family Doctor. 4414 Cormorant Ln., Merritt
Island, FL 32953
Try to imagine the complete inability to formulate new memory. This
condition is known as transient global amnesia, now known to be associated
with statin drug use. My first encounter occurred six weeks after my annual
astronaut physical at Johnson Space Center. Despite regular exercise,
weight maintenance and proper diet my total serum cholesterol had risen to
250 mg and the recommendation of the flight surgeons there was to start
Lipitor, 10 mg daily. My wife noticed
me walking aimlessly about the yard after my return from my usual walk. I
did not know who she was and would not enter our house. Our family doctor
referred me immediately to a neurologist and finally, in the office of the
neurologist, my senses returned to normal. Following a negative MRI the
following day, the diagnosis of transient global amnesia was made. I
discontinued Lipitor because I suspected it was the cause.
At my next NASA physical I was assured that statin drugs do not do this.
Reluctantly I started again with 5 mg, daily, one-half my previous dose.
Six weeks later I descended again into the black pit of amnesia, this time
for an extraordinary 12 hours. In addition to the mainly antegrade amnesia
which characterized my first attack, this time I had a retrograde element
all the way back to my high school days. Gone was my medical school
training, USAF flight surgeon career, my marriage and four children and
even my selection as scientist astronaut. Again the same doctors made the
same diagnosis, transient global amnesia. Again I stopped Lipitor on my own
knowing it was the cause but I was the only one convinced.
Several months later I got in contact with the statin drug study at UCSD's
College of Medicine. There, Dr. Beatrice Golomb reported she had several
cases just like mine. A few days later, thanks to the Graedons of the radio
program Peoples Pharmacy, thousands of case reports of memory dysfunction
started flooding in from patients across the country, all with the same
common thread - association with statin drug use.
And the amnesia is
just the tip of the iceberg of the true incidence of memory impairment
associated with Lipitor, Mevacor and Zocor. For every case of amnesia,
thousands of cases of extreme forgetfullness, incapacitating confusion and
profound disorientation have been and are being reported. Neither patients
nor doctors are aware of this side effect.
The Statin Dialogues ( Side
Effects of Lipitor and similar statins )
Cast of Characters
Almighty: The powerful makers, promoters and distributors of the stronger
statin drugs ( Lipitor, Zocor and Mevacor ).
Candide: Innocent and skeptical doctors and their patients.
Watchover: FDA's medwatch program.
Shield: Pharmaceutical companies adverse drug event reporting program.
PDR: Physician Desk reference of drug use and effects.
Almighty: "Our wise counselors tell us the time has come to promote the use
of our wonderful statin drugs to an even wider audience. Perhaps all blood
relatives and even children now should be included in our primary
prevention efforts. It is for the common good that we seek this."
Candide: "We admire your promotional efforts but what of the side effect
issue? Certainly this deserves some consideration."
Almighty: "The side effects are but a nuisance - a minor and almost
negligible factor with this fine product. Think of the thousands of lives
we are saving. Is there any real doubt as to the common good of our efforts?"
Candide: Over fifty deaths occurred among users of your fine statin drug,
Baycol, only recently removed from the market. I do not consider this minor
or negligible nor do you, I am sure. I am very concerned about these
deaths. Why did there have to be in excess of fifty tragic events before
action was taken? Would not ten have been sufficient, or even one? What say
you to this?"
Almighty: "This was a failure of your government's Watchover program, not
ours. We have been scrupulous in our adherance to governmental guideline`s.
Deficiencies such as you describe are attributable solely to guideline
inadequacies. Certainly our vigilant Shield program gave us no warning.
Candide: "May I say that your Shield program in its present form may be
more protective for you than the public? In its present form your so called
drug hotline is nothing more than a barrier, prohibiting, rather than
encouraging, communication with those among you serving as medical
advisors. Manned by robots only superficially resembling life forms their
response to an earnest request to talk with someone with authority is
considerably less than satisfying."
Almighty: "Your critical statement is completely unjust. Think of the good
we are doing from the extensive use of our statin products and the lives we
are saving? Millions of people now are taking our products. Most assuredly
our sentiments are for the health of the public."
Candide: "I appreciate the saving of lives but at what cost? On the subject
of cost may I state as an aside that the astronomical financial rewards you
have derived thus far from your drugs already have vastly exceeded your
developmental costs yet we still must pay the same exorbitant price we paid
years ago. I sense greed here but the costs I was referring to are the
costs of pain and suffering as well as deaths in some users of your wonder
drugs. Is this really necessary?"
Almighty: "This war against mankind's greatest threat, that of
atherosclerotic occlusion of major arteries due to cholesterol plaques,
cannot be fought without some casualties. There has never been an effective
treatment without some side effects. We consider the record of the statin
drugs in this respect to be exemplary."
Candide: "What you say is generally true with the possible exception of
your Baycol drug but because of the vast numbers of people now taking
statin drugs even a one in a thousand incidence of a problem, low by any
reckoning, becomes one thousand when a million people are taking this drug.
Total Global Amnesia, once so rare that most physicians have never seen a
case in their entire careers, is now quite common in our emergency rooms
associated with simply being on a statin drug. But amnesia is only the tip
of the iceberg. For every amnesia case report there are hundreds if not
thousands of cases of confusion and severe memory disturbance associated
with being on statin drugs."
Almighty: "Memory disturbance you say. What person over the age of fifty
has not encountered memory disturbance, long before the advent of statin
drugs."
Candide: "Right you are and therein lies the problem. For years patients
have been interpreting deterioration of memory shortly after starting
statin medications as simply coincidental presenility or the earliest
harbingers of Alzheimers, never making the association that these symptoms
might be a side effect of a medication their physicians have prescribed.
Similarly, physicians have tended to discount patient reports for the same
reasons, never suspecting the medication the drug company's detail men have
been pushing could be subtly aggravating the relatively common complaint of
memory problems among those over the age of fifty. This also could explain
very well the failure of your Shield program to alert you that statin drugs
might be causing serious cognitive problems. Neither patient nor doctor is
likely to file an adverse drug report when they firmly believe they are
dealing with advancing senility."
Almighty: "But we have listed these very problems in our PDRs description
of possible side effects. What more can we do?"
Candide: "Could it be that your presentation of memory and amnesia in your
side effect profile may be more like burying them amidst the confusing
paradoxes of both agitation and lethargy, constipation and diarrhea,
drowsiness and sleeplessness or both high blood pressure and low blood
pressure often reported side by side as possibly related to statin use in
some people. I consider presentation in this format beyond reasonable
interpretation of even the most trusting and dedicated practitioner? Could
we suggest that, like your adverse drug reporting system, such presentation
is more for your legal protection than doctor edification?"
"What we are concerned about here is the relative significance of memory
loss and amnesia compared with most of the other possible side effects. Our
memory is what makes us what we are. To be deprived of memory, however
transitory, is comparable to one's never having existed for that time
period - to suddenly disappear from life as we know it. This is not a
complaint to be buried with constipation and insomnia. Memory is the
essence of what we are. And to be deprived of memory can place one in
harm's way. Their very lives or the lives of others may be at risk because
of that transitory period of lapse."
Almighty: "You have made your point that memory and amnesia are important
in our daily lives but aren't you exaggerating things a bit. Can you relate
even one case report where someone has been harmed because of poor memory
attributable to our statins?"
Candide: "My inability to cite a specific instance at this point is the
very same reason that your Watchover and Shield programs have failed to
alert you promptly - lack of awareness among the general public and primary
care physicians that cognitive side effects can result from statin drug
use. So when a senior citizen goes on a two-day "walkabout" or, much worse,
drives his car across three states in a whirlwind of wanderlust with
absolutely no recollection when finally apprehended, rarely is the
association made between his actions and his medications. One of our
doctors, a senior primary care physician, who experienced a prolonged
episode of total global amnesia six weeks after having been placed on
Lipitor, reported that neither the emergency room doctors or the attending
neurologist had the slightest awareness that their might be a relationship
between this drug and his amnesia. The following year this same doctor when
re-challenged by Lipitor at one-half the previous dose experienced a much
longer amnesia episode shortly thereafter in which he regressed nearly to
his teens with absolutely no recollection for the intervening fifty years.
Again the same doctors marveled over his completely classic Total Global
Amnesia while expressing strong doubts as to any possibility of a
relationship with a statin drug. Incidentally this same doctor has
expressed the gravest concern as to what might have happened had he been an
airline pilot or a school bus driver when his statin drug abruptly took
control of his life. Later he added that had he been flying his
ultra-light, a common past-time for him, loss of control would have been
inevitable."
Almighty: "An interesting, even amusing anecdote of no real consequence and
explainable equally by other non-drug factors, which have been around long
before statin drugs and you must agree that no harm resulted. Since you are
unable to cite for me even one instance of harm resulting from statin drug
induced transient memory loss and confusion, I rest my case as to the
inherent safety of our remarkable product."
Candide: "Even though I have no actual record of physical harm you know as
well as I that physical harm may well have occurred, not once but perhaps
many times. Did you not just express to me your surprise and even shock at
the numbers of Baycol deaths? Is anything more harmful than death?
Certainly I did not know of these deaths until the time when the
unfortunate drug was abruptly removed from the market. So the credibility
of your Shield and FDA's Watchover programs has been seriously compromised.
You might say it is lacking. Perhaps you should tell ME how much evidence
of physical harm you people are sitting on, no doubt hoping it might just
go away.
Almighty: "Surely you do not mean this terrible allegation? Tell me you
jest? I promise you that if anyone had reported cases of this type to our
Shield program, we would have been the first to react. Our product is a
boon to society. The only problem of substance I see is that we are not
reaching all those unfortunates who are in dire need of statin therapy.
Your quibbling about your rare, relatively minor and quite harmless
cognitive side effects may seriously hamper our outreach efforts."
Candide: "Again I must direct your attention back to the point we already
have made. Lack of physician and patient awareness of possible
relationships between cognitive side effects and the use of statin drugs
almost guarantees that no instances of accident and statin drug use will be
reported to you. The medical examiner or police are very satisfied with a
"touch of senility" or "senior moment" causation in this climate of
complete statin "safety" you have established. Rare is the examiner who
would look more closely."
"Let us redirect our attention again to the subject of harm and this time
view harm from a different perspective - that of psychological harm. Here I
am speaking of the reports we have received from guilt ridden and
thoroughly angry sons and daughters who watched their parents rapidly
descend into dementia shortly after having been started on statins by their
doctors who were striving only for the very best preventive care. We now
know that many of these cases were not coincidental senility or Alzheimer's
disease but drug induced cognitive side effects. The harm here is to the
guilt-ridden relatives who now suspect the statin drug and especially to
the prescribing doctor who forever will be regarded by them as inadequate
at best and possibly negligent. This well-intentioned doctor may be
completely unable to accept the reality that he may have been contributing
to this sad state of affairs. He has been using this drug for years and
only now is the cognitive issue surfacing. His ignorance of a possible
relationship between his statin prescriptions and the subsequent decline in
mental faculties of his patients is because you have buried this
information in your PDR rather than effectively presenting it. This doctor
has been wounded just as critically as the bereaved children. In light of
this reality please do not say to me how "harmless" is your statin."
Almighty: "Why will you not accept that theses infrequent cases you cite
are simply co-incidental, nothing else? One of our very learned colleagues
in the hallowed halls of Pfizer has recently stated that, "There is a lot
of evidence that statins improve memory function and no good evidence that
it affects memory in a negative way." What say you to this?"
Candide: "If this man be truly learned then I would say he is ignorant of
the data which now exists and which I have seen. If, on the other hand, he
has seen this data and can still make that statement then he is a fool,
wearing the hat of medical advisor but not qualified for it."
Almighty: "Strong words, indeed, and perhaps brash. May I ask why you feel
qualified to pontificate so authoritatively on this subject?"
Candide: "I am trained, I have seen the data and I am not on your payroll.
The last point is perhaps the most important - for the advice of a hireling
is always confounded by secondary gain. A truly wise man always seeks
independent counsel."
Almighty: "I want you to know that all of my many advisors flatly dispute
the notion that statins contribute to memory problems but your words have
strange appeal. Tell me more, especially about Total Global Amnesia but be
warned that this condition is described in a medical encyclopedia printed
long before the development of statins. Common sense would compel me to ask
why you look to statins as the cause?"
Candide: "You ask a fair question and I have an answer that, in my opinion,
is equally fair. When I was in my first year of medical school, Total
Global Amnesia was described in my texts as a condition so rare that few
physicians ever saw even one case. I was to practice medicine for nearly
fifty years without encountering it. Now in this past year I have
encountered a veritable flood of reports from all walks of life and across
a wide spectrum of ages, all associated with statin drug use."
Almighty: "But my medical advisors tell me such reports are anecdotal and
not to be considered as definitive evidence."
Candide: "Not admissible in your corporate court, therefore? I challenge
your cavalier dismissal of such information. My medical professor used to
say - listen carefully to the words of your patient. He is telling you the
diagnosis. I would say the same to you - listen carefully to these case
reports, for they are telling you a problem exists. To ignore them for no
other reason than because they lack the double-blind format of standard
research data is to deny they exist. Protocol appears to have blinded your
advisors. None are so blind as those who will not see."
Almighty: "I wish to state for the record that we strive to do what is best
for our public, which includes common citizens as well as our many
shareholders. That we have saved thousands from premature strokes and heart
attacks through the use of statins is accepted throughout the medical
community. That a healthy pharmaceutical industry is good for society in
general is also accepted. Now suppose you tell me of some of these case
reports so that I may judge for myself how heavily they tilt the scale of
justice.'
Candide: " I agree that you undoubtedly have prolonged the lives of
thousands of individuals who tolerate the statin class of drugs. My concern
quite obviously is not with your successes but with the large numbers of
patients having intolerable and harmful side effects. How much a price must
society pay for your successes? You pointedly left unsaid that your statin
drug is now a multi-billion dollar industry. May I suggest these profit
dollars and homage to your shareholders weigh heavily on your scale of
justice? I never trust the words of those who would profit from them nor
could I ever trust judgments you make of your statin "cash cow" but I will
cite some of these cases if it pleases you."
"A wonderfully bright and witty lady, recently retired to her rural home
after a rewarding career as top-level administrative secretary, awoke one
morning to view new snowfall and the realization that she must go outside
to split some wood for her kitchen stove. One can imagine her surprise when
after opening the kitchen door she noted wood already split and piled
somewhat haphazardly on her porch. Also evident were numerous footprints in
the new snow suggesting to her that the nice young man next door must have
done her the favor of splitting her wood, although this had not happened
before. After collecting a few pieces of wood for her stove and returning
to her kitchen she noted a partially consumed plate of food on the table.
Someone had entered her home, she thought, and helped himself to food from
her refrigerator. Now alarmed and confused, she naturally suspected an
intruder, prompting her to do a thorough search of her home. Finding no one
and about to call the police she took another look at her porch. It was
then she noted that the pattern of all the prints matched the pattern on
the sole of her winter boots. Realization dawned -she was both the
well-intentioned neighbor and hungry intruder. Her anxiety over this alien
amnesia lingered for weeks despite reassurances from the emergency room
doctors that all her tests were negative and that her symptoms possibly
were due to Lipitor, her new statin drug, which she stopped immediately.
Constantly she wondered when and if this strange abduction of her memory
would recur. Only when she learned of the compilation of similar statin
related cases by a doctor at San Diego medical college did her confidence
begin to return and her feelings of anxiety slowly disappear."
Almighty: "Bravo. You have thoroughly entertained me with this colorful
anecdote, which my medical advisors tell me could have related just as
directly to a purely co-incidental psychomotor seizure or a transient
ischemic attack. Do you have any cases that prove anything other than your
ability to entertain?"
Candide: "There are many similar cases but I feel I am wasting my mind. As
already I have said, "None are so blind as those who will not see."
Almighty: "Perhaps you should be telling all this to Watchover, FDA's
mechanism for the reporting of adverse drug reactions. Certainly if we have
missed something in our own Shield program, Watchover will pick it up."
Candide: "Watchover was informed of each Baycol death as it occurred during
these past two years but bureaucratic inertia allowed over fifty fatalities
to occur before action was taken placing the credibility and effectiveness
of FDA in serious question. Watchover has been informed of each of these
memory loss case reports and after two years of review still has been
unable to make a decision. The overwhelming majority of prescribing
physicians in the United States today are completely unaware of the
potential of statin drugs to alter memory."
Almighty: "Suppose you tell me more of these cases. If nothing else they
are quite entertaining."
Candide: "I will continue to entertain you as you wish if for no other
reason than the chance, however slight, that the sheer numbers may impress
you even though your medical advisors still discount them."
"A husband noted for his sharp mind and ability for almost total recall got
out of bed wondering what day of the week it was. His surprised wife
quickly ascertained he did not even know what month it was. She reported he
nearly drove her crazy asking this same question over and over again
despite her repeated reassurance as to time and date. He knew nothing of
their stocks and other money matters and could not understand how his wife
could know all these things and he could not. Emergency room workup was
negative Condition cleared completely after eight hours. Neurologist
diagnosed Transient Global Amnesia, cause unknown but Zocor was suspected
as it had been started six weeks earlier. The patient discontinued this
drug and remained well."
"A university professor who always remembered everything lost an entire day
during his first encounter with memory loss while on Lipitor. Weeks later
during his second, he was unable remember his social security, telephone or
bankcard numbers and could not even remember his birthdate. Suspecting
Alzheimer's disease he had himself screened by a neurologist with negative
findings. Only after his family doctor fortuitously substituted Pravachol
(because of his complaints of co-existing muscle pain) did the amnesia
episodes clear completely."
"A young loadmaster in the United States Air Force, who by the way is
responsible for the proper loading of our military's huge cargo planes, was
given a waiver for flight status for the use of Lipitor for cholesterol
control. He soon began to experience multiple episodes of what he termed
"short term memory loss". He stopped taking Lipitor immediately after
learning of the possibility of such side effects from the Internet and his
symptoms slowly regressed. He was very concerned that they persisted for
several weeks after stopping the drug."
"A man parked by the side of the road on a dark night was interrogated by a
state trooper and found to be lost, not having the slightest recall for
traveling to this unusual site far off the beaten track and many miles away
from his home. The trooper naturally suspected alcoholism but the man
recently had started Lipitor. His attempts to offer this drug as a possible
cause for his confusion fell on deaf ears but when several more similar
episodes occurred the patient self diagnosed cognitive side effects of
Lipitor and stopped the drug. The episodes slowly ceased. Despite his
inability to convince his doctor he remains forever certain that his
confusion and amnesia were Lipitor related."
"A former CEO of a company, known as a thoroughly competent, high
achieving, typically type A personality, had been on Lipitor for nearly
three years before being struck down by severe myositis and memory defects.
He reported a bizarre episode of total global amnesia three months after
discontinuation of the drug. His serum enzymes at that time, though
improved, still were moderately elevated. His muscle pain was improving. He
remarked to his wife that because their swimming pool, neglected by his
recent near incapacitation with muscle pain, was green with algae he had to
get some pool chlorine and other supplies. Imagine his surprise when after
making a purchase of several gallons of chlorine and returning to his car,
he found in the trunk a similar supply of chlorine already purchased.
Distraught, he called his wife who determined from the sales slip that he
had made the chlorine purchase the day before at a completely different
store. He had absolutely no recall for having done this but there was no
doubt that he had done it for his daughter had seen him while engaged in
this purchase. She had been somewhat concerned because she had waved from
her car as they always did and he had not responded. He did not acknowledge
her presence in her very distinctive car. Always they had greeted each
other with hand waving in a warm friendly fashion. In her judgment there
was no possibility that he had not seen her. He simply had not been able to
recognize her or the car despite their close proximity. She passed it off
as just one of those things until her mother called the next day and they
compared notes. The husband and father could function sufficiently to drive
to a store and make a credit card purchase yet he was a completely
different man who seemed to have regressed in memory then so that he no
longer knew his adult daughter. Once having identified this "flashback "
sort of a reaction the family began a more serious review of the father's
memory problems of the past while still on Lipitor and discovered many more
unreported, strange episodes. One time he abruptly realized he inexplicably
was on a freeway, heading away form home in the wrong direction from
anything he intended to do. He passed it off as being preoccupied. On
another occasion he left in the morning to do some shore fishing. Later
that day when asked if he went fishing he could not recall and was clearly
flustered. On another occasion he called his wife on his cell phone to ask
why he was in the Home Depot parking lot. He had planned to run some
errands but none involved Home Depot. Woodworking materials were cut
repeatedly and remained unused as he cut them out again and again. His wife
feels that since the cessation of Lipitor he seems to be improving in that
his episodes are less frequent but of course they are better reported in
that the entire family is looking for these events and monitoring him
closely. His pattern of amnesia episodes illustrate a very important fact
about documenting such events - there has to be an observer for accurate
reporting. The patient has no recall especially for the more mild events.
Only if considerable time has passed or the patient winds up in an usual
location, is he prompted to consider that something unusual has occurred.
In the absence of an observer any patient history is apt to be very
miss-leading."
"I could go on and on with these anecdotes, as you call them, but in my
world they are patient case reports and would prompt most doctors to
examine them critically, especially doctors affiliated with a
pharmaceutical industry. What more can I say? You will note that in most of
these cases it is the patient or family members who make the diagnosis not
the prescribing doctor, so complete has been your PDR brainwashing."
Almighty: "I admit the shear numbers of reports almost forces a
reconsideration of our labeling but remember, we long have stated that
memory problems can occur with our statins. We are not our brother's
keeper. What more can we do?"
Candide: "If you mean by that statement that your PDR listing of amnesia in
its voluminous list of possible side effects absolves you from further
responsibility you are wrong. You have not effectively communicated the
problem of statin associated cognitive side effects to your doctors. I
demand special labeling. I want all prescribing physicians to know of this
possibility, however rare, so that when memory problems and growing
confusion are reported to them by distraught patients, statin drug side
effect should be the first thing the doctor thinks of, not the last. When
that time comes I shall be satisfied."
The end.
statinstudy@ucsd.edu Duane 'Doc' Graveline
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/
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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
Well Within & Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours (worldwide)
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