WASHINGTON -- New research showing a strong link between Parkinson's disease and low levels of "bad" cholesterol are so worrying that U.S. researchers are launching a study to look into it.
The team at the University of North Carolina is planning clinical trials involving thousands of people to see whether statin drugs, which lower low density lipoprotein, or LDL, might actually cause Parkinson's in some people.
Other research has for several years suggested that people with abnormally low levels of LDL might be at higher risk of Parkinson's.
Xuemei Huang and colleagues found that patients with low levels of LDL cholesterol are at least three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those with higher LDL levels.
Writing in the journal Chemistry & Industry, they said they plan a bigger study of patients taking statins, the biggest-selling drugs in the world.
"I am very concerned, which is why I am planning a 16,000-patient prospective study to examine the possible role of statins," Huang said in a statement.
Prospective study means the patients are watched for a period of time to see what diseases or conditions develop.
Huang noted some other studies showed that people with APOE2, a gene that causes naturally low cholesterol, have a higher risk of Parkinson's. Another variation of the gene, APOE4, is associated with a risk of Alzheimer's disease.
British heart experts expressed alarm about the report and said heart patients should not stop taking statins.
"We are concerned that any suggestion of a link between statins and Parkinson's disease would unnecessarily scare the millions of people benefiting from statins in the U.K.," said Dr. Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation.
"There is no evidence to suggest that statins cause Parkinson's disease. There is, however, overwhelming evidence that statins save lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes."
Parkinson's is an incurable brain illness that can paralyze patients. Patients may also have difficulty walking and talking and may shake uncontrollably at times.
According to the National Institutes of Health, Parkinson's affects at least 500,000 people in the United States alone. But heart disease affects 70 million Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and kills more than 910,000 each year.
Trans Fats are linked to bad cholesterol, in that it will increase if you eat Trans fats.
Trans Fats in our diets is one of the most damaging CTP OTS tactics ever - "Create The Problem, Offer The Solution".
Parkinsons and other diseases including heart disease, obesity, bowel disorders [of which there seems to be an epidemic], and cancers, plus degenerative diseases all all linked to trans fats in our diets.
The actual cause of some of these is from the statin drugs themselves, used to get lower #s on LDL tests. In that, they jumped right into Create the Problem as the Solution.
And they just have NO IDEA what is good cholesterol wise. None.
Previous article is now up on Michael J. Fox's web page (from 2005):
Low cholesterol linked to Parkinson's risk in men
September 29, 2005
By Martha Kerr
Is it possible to have too low a level of cholesterol? A cholesterol profile that reduces the risk of heart disease may increase the risk for Parkinson's disease -- at least for men -- researchers report.
Going back several years, studies have uncovered associations between low cholesterol and suicide, stroke, depression, even violence. While the findings in most cases did not stand up to scrutiny, the suspicion remains that very low cholesterol might influence mental function.
Now, at the annual meeting the American Neurological Association held this week in San Diego, California, Dr. Xuemei Huang described a possible link to Parkinson's disease.
Huang and colleagues, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, measured the lipid levels of 124 Parkinson's patients and a group of 112 similar people free of Parkinson's disease.
Huang reported that, after adjusting for age, smoking, and use of lipid-lowering agents, men with low total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels had an increased risk of Parkinson's.
For example, compared to men with LDL cholesterol levels higher than 135, those with levels between 91 and 135 were 6 times more likely to have Parkinson's, and those LDL levels below 91 were 4 time more likely.
Huang proposed several possible mechanisms to explain the link between low cholesterol and risk of Parkinson's disease. One is that cholesterol helps rid the body of environmental toxins that might trigger Parkinson's.
"Another possible mechanism underlying our finding is the role of cholesterol as a precursor for hormones/chemical modulators that are involved in central nervous system function in a variety of ways," he said.
The association did not hold true for women. "Our findings of the gender differences are intriguing...the lifetime risk of Parkinson's disease is about two-fold higher in males than females," Huang noted.
"The fact that LDL cholesterol levels increase with age in men until 65 years of age, and until 75 years in women, may be relevant to our findings of gender-specific association between cholesterol and Parkinson's disease," he commented.
Expanding on this point, Huang concluded: "The fact that cholesterol levels tend to increase with age in young or middle age adults, yet decrease in later life when the risk of Parkinson's disease increases, suggests caution in balancing the benefits and risks of medication use in achieving 'optimal' cholesterol levels."
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Cholesterol Drugs/Low LDL May Cause Parkinson's! - Report 
