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Funny thing, brain function depends on an adequate supply of cholesterol. As you lower blood cholesterol levels to stave off potential ill health effects in one part of your body (the heart) you potentially starve the brain of this necessary element.
Tons of useful health information now available online. Unfortunately, it often clashes. Take everything with a grain-of-salt (figuratively of course). If I can find three different and reputable medical schools in agreement on something, I'm inclined to swallow their advice. That's what's nice about the Internet. You're able to cross-check information. - Couple of my favorite (and re-occurring) reads:
As a follow up to Hank's comments above I found "The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People" by Dan Buettner to be an interesting read. Of course, use the MFO Amazon link to purchase.
@bee 1. An excellent review of a very new area of research re. brain chemistry. What brought you to it--- were you involved in Big Science at some point in your life, or a neurologist? This is pretty high-level molecular biochemistry, largely "undigestible" by general public, with or without an interest in or knowledge of science/medicine. 2. While your general comment is true---"brain function depends on an adequate supply of cholesterol"--- I think you missed one of the major factoids in the review, a recent discovery that really got the research that is covered in this review going big-time: Outside the brain, the cellular needs for cholesterol is covered by de novo synthesis and by cellular uptake of lipoprotein cholesterol from the circulation. In the brain, the blood-brain barrier effectively prevents uptake from the circulation, and de novo synthesis is responsible for practically all cholesterol present in this organ. In other words, the brain takes care of all its own cholesterol needs, "in-house;" it actually over-produces and chucks what it doesn't need out into the blood stream. The cells in the rest of the body either produce what they need for membrane function (if their metabolism is low, and they don't divide all that often) or they meet their cholesterol needs by taking it from the blood stream, after it is synthesized by the body's major cholesterol-producing organ, the liver. 3. Thank you so much for posting. On a personal level, it provided immediate relief from a medical concern of mine. At a regular check-up recently, my mother's doctor and I had a slightly elevated "exchange of views" re. her continued use of a statin for improving her lipid profile (combined with diet stuff, it does take her from not-bad-but-could-be-better to healthy-and-perfectly-acceptable). Knowing the brain produces what it needs but thinking its needs wouldn't be much, I was thinking continued use of a statin that crosses the blood-brain barrier could be exacerbating some of the focal cognitive deficits that first appeared following her TIA and mild stroke damage 4-5 yrs ago. Based on other info in this review, this concern is eliminated--- the brain over-produces, and her dosage is too low to be influencing cognitive decline (while providing benefits to the rest of her body).
In its discussion of statins, it suggests that regardless of dosage, statins don't affect the brain directly (i.e. due to passage to the brain):
Because the blood-brain barrier would be expected to block the entrance of most statins to the brain, at least if the statin is hydrophilic, the protective effect is unexpected. According to the data reported thus far, there is no difference between the protective effect of a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic statin.
It is apparent from these studies that most patients with central nervous system disorders probably benefit to some extent from lipid-lowering therapy. But data are not univocal, ...
Regarding the blood-brain barrier, it notes: "There is evidence that the blood-brain barrier may be dysfunctional in AD (Erickson and Banks 2013) which could alter brain cholesterol homeostasis."
But it goes on to observe that studies are all over the map, and so "Simply put, brain cholesterol levels of AD patients are highly variable, and the data do not support the hypothesis that total brain cholesterol abundance is a causative factor in AD."
(I've only briefly skimmed this paper.)
PubMed.gov - great site for medical papers. (You can read some of the full papers, depending on their publisher, but the abstracts are helpful in any case.)
On a personal level, it provided immediate relief from a medical concern of mine. At a regular check-up recently, my mother's doctor and I had a slightly elevated "exchange of views" re. her continued use of a statin for improving her lipid profile (combined with diet stuff, it does take her from not-bad-but-could-be-better to healthy-and-perfectly-acceptable). Knowing the brain produces what it needs but thinking its needs wouldn't be much, I was thinking continued use of a statin that crosses the blood-brain barrier could be exacerbating some of the focal cognitive deficits that first appeared following her TIA and mild stroke damage 4-5 yrs ago. Based on other info in this review, this concern is eliminated--- the brain over-produces, and her dosage is too low to be influencing cognitive decline (while providing benefits to the rest of her body).
I'm going through something very similar with my mom (age 92). I don't understand it all, but I try to find sources of information to help me be a better care giver. Thanks for your detailed follow up and comments. I'm hoping healthcare get s a little closer to understanding what being healthy really is. To me, many medicines have so many side effects they compromises their beneficial intent and may even do more harm than good.
Comments
atvb.ahajournals.org/content/24/5/806.full
Tons of useful health information now available online. Unfortunately, it often clashes. Take everything with a grain-of-salt (figuratively of course). If I can find three different and reputable medical schools in agreement on something, I'm inclined to swallow their advice. That's what's nice about the Internet. You're able to cross-check information.
-
Couple of my favorite (and re-occurring) reads:
University of Barcelona study (2013) of the Mediterranean Diet and its relationship to cardiovascular health: Focuses on real foods that real people can eat to lower their risk of stroke and heart disease.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/health/mediterranean-diet-can-cut-heart-disease-study-finds.html
"The Red Wine Diet" by Dr. Roger Corder: Despite title, book takes a compresensive approach to nutrition and other components of healthy dining and living. Very enjoyable read as well. http://www.amazon.com/Red-Wine-Diet-Roger-Corder/dp/1583332901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437231495&sr=8-1&keywords=the+red+wine+diet
1. An excellent review of a very new area of research re. brain chemistry. What brought you to it--- were you involved in Big Science at some point in your life, or a neurologist? This is pretty high-level molecular biochemistry, largely "undigestible" by general public, with or without an interest in or knowledge of science/medicine.
2. While your general comment is true---"brain function depends on an adequate supply of cholesterol"--- I think you missed one of the major factoids in the review, a recent discovery that really got the research that is covered in this review going big-time:
Outside the brain, the cellular needs for cholesterol is covered by de novo synthesis and by cellular uptake of lipoprotein cholesterol from the circulation. In the brain, the blood-brain barrier effectively prevents uptake from the circulation, and de novo synthesis is responsible for practically all cholesterol present in this organ.
In other words, the brain takes care of all its own cholesterol needs, "in-house;" it actually over-produces and chucks what it doesn't need out into the blood stream. The cells in the rest of the body either produce what they need for membrane function (if their metabolism is low, and they don't divide all that often) or they meet their cholesterol needs by taking it from the blood stream, after it is synthesized by the body's major cholesterol-producing organ, the liver.
3. Thank you so much for posting. On a personal level, it provided immediate relief from a medical concern of mine. At a regular check-up recently, my mother's doctor and I had a slightly elevated "exchange of views" re. her continued use of a statin for improving her lipid profile (combined with diet stuff, it does take her from not-bad-but-could-be-better to healthy-and-perfectly-acceptable). Knowing the brain produces what it needs but thinking its needs wouldn't be much, I was thinking continued use of a statin that crosses the blood-brain barrier could be exacerbating some of the focal cognitive deficits that first appeared following her TIA and mild stroke damage 4-5 yrs ago. Based on other info in this review, this concern is eliminated--- the brain over-produces, and her dosage is too low to be influencing cognitive decline (while providing benefits to the rest of her body).
In its discussion of statins, it suggests that regardless of dosage, statins don't affect the brain directly (i.e. due to passage to the brain): That was a 2004 article. Here's a 2014 abstract that seems to say positive effects of statins on neurological disorders are still uncertain.
Statins in neurological disorders: an overview and update. Here's another 2014 paper, that leans more toward no effect:
Cholesterol as a causative factor in Alzheimer's disease: a debatable hypothesis
Regarding the blood-brain barrier, it notes: "There is evidence that the blood-brain barrier may be dysfunctional in AD (Erickson and Banks 2013) which could alter brain cholesterol homeostasis."
But it goes on to observe that studies are all over the map, and so "Simply put, brain cholesterol levels of AD patients are highly variable, and the data do not support the hypothesis that total brain cholesterol abundance is a causative factor in AD."
(I've only briefly skimmed this paper.)
PubMed.gov - great site for medical papers. (You can read some of the full papers, depending on their publisher, but the abstracts are helpful in any case.)