For a certain fact, cigarette smoking is probably the worst thing one can do to clog up their arteries. I'm on a statin and I'm nearly 63 and have never had any indication of artery clogging but medical protocol dictates my cholesterol should be lower. What I do know for a certain fact is that it causes weird dreams; and I mean really weird dreams. There has to be a reason for that and I doubt it is necessarily good. I also take folic acid and niacin.
You should also supplement with COQ10. Statins are known to deplete COQ10 levels. See www.lef.org for more information about this.
I looked it up on the web and did some studying on it.
I ended up throwing out the entire bottle, never opened, of the prescription, and changing my diet radically.
Statins may help because they have blood thinning and infection reducing side affects, rather like aspirin.
But they are dangerous, and lowering cholesterol is attacking a symptom, not the disease. They do substantially more harm than good.
For an overview of the problems with statins, see Dr. Joseph Mercola's The Truth About Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs (Statins), Cholesterol and Health.
Some quotes from some of the articles that Mercola links to:
Cholesterol is not the major culprit in heart disease or any disease. If it becomes oxidized it can irritate/inflame tissues in which it is lodged in, such as the endothelium (lining of the arteries). This would be one of numerous causes of chronic inflammation that can injure the lining of arteries. However, many good fats are easily oxidized such as omega-3 fatty acids, but it does not mean that you should avoid it at all costs.
Common sense would indicate that we should avoid the oxidation (rancidity) of cholesterol and fatty acids and not get rid of important life-giving molecules. Using the same conventional medical thinking that is being used for cholesterol would lead one to believe that doctors should reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by taking out everybody's brain.
In fact, cholesterol is being transported to tissues as part of an inflammatory response that is there to repair damage.
The fixation on cholesterol as a major cause of heart disease defies the last 15 years of science and deflects from real causes such as the damage (via glycation) that sugars such as glucose and fructose inflict on tissues, including the lining of arteries, causing chronic inflammation and resultant plaque.
Like two peas in a pod, the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics have joined forces in an attempt to ravage America's health ... and it's working, as hundreds of millions of people have been significantly affected by this deadly pair.
But how are these two epidemics intertwined? Popular belief is that if one eats too much sugar, they'll get fat and develop diabetes; and, if they don't get diabetes it's merely because their body is producing enough insulin to keep up with the sugar. However, researchers have discovered evidence that there's more to the obesity-diabetes connection than this classic way of thinking: The missing link? Leptin.
Mice Studies Shed Light on the Subject
Research on mice has suggested that leptin is the key, as it regulates blood sugar through two different brain-body passageways:
While it was previously found that disrupting the appetite-controlling passageway leads to obesity (which significantly increases the risk of diabetes), results of the study indicated that it likely takes disruptions in both of leptin's passageways to trigger full-blown diabetes.
Cholesterol is produced by the body and is used for, among other things, the manufacture and maintanence of cell membranes. However, cholesterol (whether from diet or body manufacture) is too large to pass the blood brain barrier, and as a result, the brain also produces its own supply.
The problem with the statins, such as Lipitor, is: that the drug CAN pass through the blood brain barrier, thereby lowering the cholesterol levels in the brain. This has been reported by a number of people who have had memory and other cognative problems that manifested after starting on the drug. You might be experiencing some sort of affect from the statins and it a playing around with your dream state.
You might want to fire up google and look around for info on statins, Lipitor, and others. I know there is a web site by a former astronaut & AF Flight Surgeon (can't recall the name off hand), who has discussed the side affects he's had (loss of memory) after starting on Lipitor. I think it will also point you to other sites with forums where people have been discussing such matters.
Why the folic acid? My boyfriend is on Lipitor and Niacian (to raise his good cholesterol). Dimmetap gives me wierd dreams, and codeine based pain meds make me puke for hours after taking one.