Cholesterol drugs DAMAGE the brain?

The brain is made up of cholesterol in a very large percentage. It is estimated that 20-25% of the cholesterol present in the body is present in the brain and 20-25% of the lipids in the brain are cholesterol. It is reasonable to wonder whether drugs that stop the production of cholesterol might have an effect on mental acuity. So it's reasonable to wonder if cholesterol drugs, mostly statins, increase the likelihood of someone developing dementia. In fact, given that current guidelines recommend that virtually most people over 50 take cholesterol-lowering medication, it's reasonable to wonder whether this will have any significant effect on the likelihood of dementia in the coming decades.
Like all scientific questions, there are scientists and doctors who believe that the widespread use, or even abuse, of cholesterol drugs will lead to a sharp increase in dementia, while on the other hand there are doctors who believe that the increased use of statins will lead to reduction of dementia, i.e. the exact opposite effect. Obviously, the overwhelming majority of doctors were waiting for the proper studies to decide. Initially, some studies appeared that suggested that people taking statins were more likely to develop dementia. The counterargument was that people started taking statins only a few years ago, whereas dementia takes decades to develop. So it's possible that the subjects got dementia not because they took statins, but because they had high cholesterol. Whereas, the statins they took shortly before being diagnosed with dementia simply confirmed that they had high cholesterol. In the final analysis, those who had low cholesterol did not take statins and did not develop dementia.
It wasn't that they didn't get dementia because they didn't take statins, but they didn't get dementia because they had low cholesterol. That was the counterargument, and soon studies appeared that seemed to support that argument as well. So, we had conflicting studies and each doctor "picked" the studies he wanted to support his point of view.
What would clear up the picture would be studies showing whether low cholesterol leads to dementia, but low without drugs to lower it. Fortunately, these studies are now available. There are some people who are born with very low cholesterol. When I say low cholesterol, I don't mean what cardiologists mean by "low cholesterol", say 100 and 150, I'm talking about very low cholesterol. These people carry gene mutations that cause the LDL cholesterol in their blood to range between 20 and 30.
Those of you who know what LDL cholesterol means understand that such a thing is rare. The scientists found several such people and followed them to see if such low cholesterol could lead to dementia. And the answer was clear: not only did such low cholesterol not lead to dementia, it appeared to even protect against it.
But one could argue that these special people are protected from dementia for reasons unrelated to low cholesterol. So after a year we had the confirmation in people who are not born with such low cholesterol, but have naturally low cholesterol. In this study it was once again confirmed that low cholesterol protects against all forms of dementia. Yes, the researchers have gone to the trouble of defining "low" at the reasonably achievable LDL of less than 120. If someone has LDL, or as we say bad cholesterol, below 120 they have protection from the cholesterol risk factor. People who have more than 120 LDL are at increased risk of developing dementia as they age.
Don't wait until your 60s and 70s to protect your brain from the damaging effect of elevated LDL on the brain. Take care from now on with proper diet, exercise and, when necessary, cholesterol-lowering medications. In my practice we help people every day to lower their cholesterol with proper diet, exercise and sometimes with some natural dietary supplements that help lower cholesterol.
If you've made it this far, it means you're interested in the topic of cholesterol, and since I'm assuming you also like chocolate, I suggest you watch the video to my right that answers the question of does chocolate raise cholesterol. I remind you that by pressing the like button and sharing the video you help me a lot. Thank you.