Cholesterol and Parkinson's Disease

During the past two decades, more than 100 people with Parkinson’s Disease have come to my clinic for consultation. I estimate that at least 20% of them were taking statins to lower their cholesterol.

It is extremely disturbing that there is such a gap between pure research and clinical practice. To describe this in a simple diagram, it looks like this:

In words, doctors do not usually examine original research; they are extremely busy and don’t have the time. Drug companies may study original research, but mainly conduct their own to fit their goals (selling drugs), and then they filter the results to feed the doctors. Doctors get too much of what they know from drug companies. You can accept this or not, but my knowledge and experience have led me to unfortunate conclusions about drug company influence on the medical world.

This is how we have a situation where statin drugs are prescribed for Parkinson’s patients, something which should be forbidden. Is it possible that the fact that more than 20 billion dollars’ worth of statin drugs are sold yearly has somehow influenced this practice?

So, why do I say it is forbidden?

• The body’s greatest concentration of cholesterol is in the brain, where it stabilizes the cell membrane, while allowing the needed fluidity for brain cells to connect to each other. 
• Brain cells actually produce cholesterol, a fact that supports the above two points.
• Therefore, we conclude that it is good, not bad, for the brain. Anyway, the whole connection between cholesterol and heart disease is quite shaky, but that’s not the subject of this essay.
• All of the research summarized below (with links to the studies) indicates that low cholesterol levels, due to statin use or any other reason, are actually correlated with higher risk of PD.
• Higher cholesterol levels are associated with slower disease progression.
• The above points are true of both total cholesterol levels and LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) levels.
• Blocking cholesterol production also blocks the production of the vital Coenzyme Q10, which has been found to be helpful in treating PD, and most likely in preventing it.

In conclusion, it is a mistake for Parkinson’s Disease patients to lower cholesterol.

I’m hoping that this article will help people.

CHOLESTEROL AND PARKINSON’S DISEASE RESEARCH SUMMARY

Statin use may be associated with a higher PD risk, whereas higher total cholesterol may be associated with lower risk. These data are inconsistent with the hypothesis that statins are protective against PD.

Lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are associated with Parkinson's disease.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17177184/