At one point, doctors joked that statins were so effective, we’d be putting them in the drinking water.  But lately they’ve taken a few hits.  A trial of designer drug Vytorin showed it was no more effective than a simple generic statin.  Many reports point out that there’s no data to show that statins prolong life, and many believe they should only be prescribed to those who’ve already evidenced heart disease.  And now there’s a lot of anecdotal stuff that statins make you stupid – cognitive effects, like muddled thinking and forgetfulness, that particularly seem to affect women taking statins.  People complain they suddenly forget the name of a grandchild, get lost while driving in a familiar area, or start a sentence and then can’t finish it.  Some have been diagnosed with early dementia, only to recover when they went off their statin!  Which seems weird, because there’s also been a lot of hubbub about statins preventing dementia, and isn’t confusion on the way to dementia?  The main point is this – watch very, very closely when you start taking ANY new medication!!!  Start on the very lowest dose and move up after follow-ups, instead of going right to “the customary dose.”  Let someone close to you know that you’ve started taking it, and will you help me notice if anything changes?  We have a tendency to just throw another med down the hatch and not worry about it again, but you must plan on fine-tuning, testing doses and different types of the same drug to get the results you want.  OxyContin, Vicodin, Benadryl, Elavil – these are other meds that can cause reversible cognitive problems.  Don’t assume that forgetfulness is part of aging.  Find a doctor or pharmacist willing to review your meds and suggest alternatives if you notice negative changes.