CoQ10 isn't the only thing affected when you take a statin. Statins inhibit the mevalonate pathway so besides inhibiting cholesterol these drugs inhibit the production of dolichols, ubiquinones (coenzyme Q10), squalene, heme A, sterols, and prenylated proteins. And you need all of those in good supply to be healthy not just CoQ10. I found this info as well from Statin Side Effects - Statins and ALS May Have a Connection...
"As more and more research occurs with statins and the possible statin drug side effects that they might cause in people, it seems as though we are learning something new each day. A study by a neuroscientist named Meske and reported in the European Journal of Neuroscience talked about a connection that could exist, based on the study, of statins to neuronal degeneration. This could in turn cause some people to develop a higher risk of developing ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
The World Health Organization also released a report in October of 2007, which showed that there could be connections with statins and ALS. While the studies in this area are not yet definitive, evidence is starting to show that people taking statins may have an increased risk of ALS. This was before people really starting noticing that statins had side effects."
Yes we put him on this last year and I am so surprised more people do not know about it.
We have a spinal tap today. Hope they find protein in it so that it can take all talk from ALS...protein is an indicator of GB syndrome.
Have your husband start taking CoQ10 if he hasn't already.
Excerpt from Dr Greg Emerson - Cholesterol Reduction...
"Remember that these drugs are often associated with side-effects including nausea, headaches, dizziness, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, shortness of breath, memory loss, liver problems, muscle weakness, muscle pain, peripheral neuropathy and cardiomyopathy due to a depletion of Coenzyme Q10.
Recent studies have shown no reductions in death in people over the age of 65 or people with no existing heart disease on statins (regardless of how much their cholesterol was lowered) and no benefit at all in women of any age. It is very important to understand statistics here and the difference between relative risk and absolute risk reduction.
Much of the advertising with statins describe a 36% risk reduction in heart attacks. This is a relative risk reduction. The absolute risk reduction is a decrease from a 3% risk to a 2% risk. In practical terms, this means that in men under the age of 65 with pre-existing heart disease, 100 (the NNT- Number Needed to Treat) have to take a statin for 3 years to prevent 1 heart attack. The other 99 men receive no benefit.
Professor James Wright from the University of British Columbia states that “most people taking statins are taking something with no chance of benefit and a risk of harm.”
Interestingly, the small reductions in death in men under 65 with pre-existing heart disease was independent of cholesterol reduction and was almost certainly due to their anti-inflammatory effects (there are safer ways to get this effect)."