I had a little heart problem a year or so ago and the doc prescribed simvastatin. During the time that I’ve taken the drug, those around me have noticed a dumbing down and a slowness of response. I’ve noticed this too, and I’ve also noticed a decreased ability to find the right word in conversation and while I’m writing.
I thought that this was a general function of aging and I accepted my decline, albeit sadly. I may have been premature. It’s possible that my flat affect and memory condition were a product of simvastatin. Of course I may be rapidly descending into a state of senile dementia and we all should ignore any of my ideas, consider them the ravings of a mad man.
Statins have been shown to improve the survival chances of atherosclerotic patients. I’m one of those. I shouldn’t mess with my meds. q.e.d.
OTOH (as the messagers using a shorthand for the common phrase “on the other hand” say), since I stopped the statins I haven’t felt quite as stupid. OTOH, I stopped taking my statins, so what does that tell you?
I’ve an appointment with the cardio guy soon. In all likelihood I’ll remember to bring this up since I’m not taking the statins. OTOH, I may not live long. Just a joke… macabre sure, but not to be taken seriously. Informed opinions abound regarding the “statin stupids,” my self-diagnosed condition. A few links:
- Do Statins Make You Stupid?
- Do Statins Make You Stupid?
- Can a Drug That Helps Hearts Be Harmful to the Brain?
Well if these last three posts are the results of a statin-free you, I say there is a question. You’ve been kicking some post, butt, ana I like it (so many of us blogging lightweights have come and gone, Frank blogs on)! I have been feeling very stoopid for three years, since I was put on hormone replacement (why does that somehow make sense?). Now the NUMBER 1 (WE ARE #!!!!!) medical system in the world (having just suffered through the Republican rebuttal) are pushing statins at me, and if my $700 a month insurance won’t kick in until the 3k deductible, I say bring them on. Oh well, ignorance is bliss? My ol’ cat and I take our meds together, it has become a warm, bonding ritual. We plan to go together… when we go.
I lerved it when the Republican evoked the “number one medical system in the world.” Is he going to talk about France, I wondered?
Oh Medicare… life in the doughnut hole.
Good to hear from you Peter. Regards to your kitty. Us old cats gotta stick together.
OTOH I noticed your decline begining in the early sixties. I suspected medication issues even then.
In case you need help with your efforts to self diagnose let me help you.
Senility:
Stage I: You notice things are slipping but you’re generally able to cover up so others don’t notice. (Bothersome)
Stage II: You know you’re losing it so does everyone else and you know they know. (Humiliating)
Stage III: Everyone else knows but you think you’re fine. (Bliss)
Personally, I think you fall between stages II and three…But then when it comes to long distance diagnoses I’m no Bill Frist.
Ask your doctor about Ginko Biloba. If you can pronounce it you’re fine.
“Gingko Biloba”… metric equivalent of “Lady Madonna”…
銀杏
We have a female in our front lawn. When we arrived in March, 1990 it was about the size of a mature dwarf apple tree. It was early spring, no leaves yet, and I thought it might be a fruit tree. Well, when the leaves appeared we could see it was a gingko, but it didn’t bear fruit so we thought “How lucky, it must be a male.” Little did we know that they take twenty years and more to mature. We found out it was a female a few years ago when it started dropping little plum shaped fruits. The odor of these fruits is unpleasant at best. I call them puke-fruit both because of how they smell and how stomach turning they are. Nothing like accidentally stepping on one on the way to the car, tracking it in and suffering with the stench in the confined space. Somewhere around here there is a male gingko and if I find it I’m gonna cut it down.
What were we talking about? I forget.
Husband’s family used to do expeditions to the park where female Ginko trees grew. In Muck boots with rubber gloves they collected the fruit, brought it home and scrubbed off the stinky fruit to get to the little nuts inside, scrubbed them off, and set ’em out to dry. Several popular Chinese dishes use Ginko nuts (like wintermelon soup). I discovered that canned garbanzo beans taste nearly the same, and they surely are easier on the nose. (The kids called the Ginkos puke fruit too!) Did you know tho that Ginko is one of the oldest (a truely ancient) species?
Wonder what the evolutionary benefit is tho, to yukky fruit? How can the tree spread if no critter will go near the fruit to collect and transport it’s seed?
After the leaves fell this year, a huge paper wasp nest was revealed. I wondered if they might be the pollinators but haven’t been able to find any documentation to suggest that the trees have any insect pollinators.
In Hiroshima after the bomb blast a half dozen gingkos survived when all around them the vegetation was totally destroyed. I guess if you can survive an A bomb blast, then that speaks well for your species chances at survival over the long term.
One more thought. I too have noticed that I’m just not quite as sharp as I used to be. Last week my wife, Elaine, told me she was certain it was a result of my drinking too much. So yesterday I stopped for a couple of hours. By the end I think I was a lot smarter but I kept bending down to tie my shoes… and I was barefoot.
Besides, the only reason I keep drinking at all is so I’ll have something to give up if I ever deteriorate to your condition.
I recommend Haflinger’s wool clogs. Easy on, easy off, and none of that embarrassing need to bend down. A fellow your age and condition ought to keep upright at all times.
You probably don’t remember that time you lost your clothes on the beach at St. Martin and had to walk a few kilometers into town clad only in a shaker of Bombay gin and a smile.
Me too
Have you not done so, please read ‘Flowers for Algernon’. Great short story…
That’s a bleak association, Dr. Savory! I remember “Flowers for Algernon” and the sadness I felt as the protagonist relapsed into total dumb-i-tude.
But it’s good to hear from you. Age is a gift, they say. Of course they say a lot of things. Mostly I don’t recall what they say though. Probably a blessing.