Both my parents are on statins, my mother takes Lipitor and my
father takes Mevachor.  Sometimes I do wonder if they're
getting Alzheimers, as they seem to forget lots of things.
A TV show will come on and I'll remark that we just watched the
same exact episode a few weeks ago and my father insists he
hasn't seen it.  I'll recite the entire plot and sometimes he
will recall having seen it.  But they are also getting old (61),
so it may be natural memory loss.  But even if it is statin-
related, you have to weigh the memory loss with the {*filter*}'
benefits.  My father was a ticking time bomb for a heart attack
due to his high cholesterol level, now his doctor proclaims him
to be in relatively perfect health in that respect.  Same for
my mother.  And their diets still suck (meat, cheese, grease,
etc., just like mine).

Something in the news a month or two ago was an experiment where
they fed a solution of synthetic "good" cholesterol intravenously
for a period of 5 weeks and the study participants actually
experienced a small, but significant, in arterial plaque deposits.

I think newer {*filter*} will soon be developed that will reduce bad
cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and also remove existing
plaque from artery walls; all without the negative side-effects
including memory loss.

I expect to need Lipitor in the near future, if not already.  I
had a {*filter*} test last year but didn't go in for the results,
although the nurse who called me suggested that the cholesterol
and triglyceride numbers were extremely high.  As I have no
health insurance, I need to consider the $40 or so per month the
Lipitor costs (and that's if I split high-dose tablets), and
also the cost of doctor's visits and the regular {*filter*} tests.

Are you sure of that? There are several studies looking at their use
as immunosuppressants in organ transplants.

This is just one of 60 citations I found on Pub Med looking statins in
the context of their possible role as immunosuppressants. B'adant

Minerva Urol Nefrol. 2003 Jun;55(2):111-9.  Related Articles, Links  

Acute renal allograft rejections, a role for statins?

Holdaas H, Jardine A.

Department of Medicine, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Acute rejection of kidney allografts during the first months following
transplantation is one of the most important risk factor for long-term
graft failure. Some small open studies have indicated that
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-Co-A), statins, might act
as immunosuppressive agents, and reduce acute rejection rates.
Moreover, the use of statin in transplant recipients is quite common,
despite no data from prospective large multi-centre studies are
available to demonstrate any beneficial effect for acute rejections or
long-term cardiovascular protection in this population. In this
overview, recent clinical and experimental data will be provided for
assessing statins as immunosuppressive agents. Although in vitro
studies have provided a theoretical basis for the use of statins as
immunosuppressive agents, more recent clinical placebo controlled
studies have failed to confirm the initial optimism of this effect of
statins.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, Tutorial

PMID: 12847415 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]