I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's books, and fans report him to be a delightful man with an impish sense of humor. Which is why it is such a tragedy if medical science is killing him.

In 2007, he had a stroke.

In 2008, he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. He was only 60.

I don't know if he was put on statins after a stroke. But I imagine the odds he wasn't are very slim. And I don't know if the statins caused his Alzheimer's; but the evidence is mounting that these drugs can cause great disruption in the brain; composed mostly of cholesterol.

Can't get it out of my own head.

I thought for Alzheimer's to be considered early onset it had to happen before age 50?

In any case you're right, statins are a huge experiment on the population and we are only beginning to suspect the possible side effects of the drug. I refuse to take them, much to the dismay of my doctor and my family. If your idea has any merit to it then that's yet one more reason to stay away. I have enough problems with family history of Alzheimer's to risk statins.

WereBear, you are right--Terry Pratchett is such a brilliant author.

Obviously there's no way to truly know if statins played a role in the development of his dementia; but I would point to a couple of things that make me think statins may not be responsible...

1) Terry has Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA or 'Benson's Syndrome'), which is different from the Alzheimer's we are most familiar with. PCA is a far less common form of dementia--basically a rare Alzheimer's variant. PCA tends to have an earlier onset than 'regular' Alzheimer's.

2) I thought that Terry announced his diagnosis in 2007 or early 2008--please correct me if I'm misinformed. If 2007 or early 2008 is true, then I don't think he would have been on the statins long enough for that to cause the PCA.

However, one thing we definitely don't know is whether he'd been on statins for years already--before his stroke.

Regardless of the cause, it's so unfortunate that he has it.

Now they are saying that dark chocolate is 25 times more effective than statin drugs I am going off statins if that is true

The thing is statin drugs are NOT particularly effective at reducing deaths from all causes. Yes, they may lower your cholesterol, but does that extend your life? Except for a subset of men < 60 or so years old that have already had coronary events, no.

Statins do reduce inflammation, but there are a great number of side effects associated with them. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Not for me.

Eating low carb does more for reducing triglycerides and raising HDL than statins.