Wed, Nov-16-11, 15:38
|
|
Senior Member
Posts: 269
|
|
Plan: Atkins (DANDR)
Stats: 260/218/140
BF:
Progress: 35%
Location: Boston, MA
|
|
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.
|