Will the real cause of peripheral neuropathy please stand up

I was looking at socks in the store the other afternoon. A woman, also looking at socks, and I struck up a conversation. It happened that she stated she is diabetic and suffers from terrible leg pain. She told me she is taking Lyrica (that drug that causes platelet depletion) and it is not working at all. She also told me that she has been taking Lipitor for years.

I guess this is the 64 thousand dollar question - Is it Lipitor or is it Diabetes?

Neuropathy is well known to be associated with statin drug use. David Gaist was one of the first physician researchers to report this to the medical community in the journal, Neurology, in the year, 2002.

In his original paper he expressed concern for the increased susceptibility to neuropathy among diabetics placed on statin drugs.

He estimated that diabetics had as much as a sixteen fold increase in risk of neuropathy when statin drugs are used but stressed that non-diabetics also are susceptible.

The symptoms of numbness, tingling, burning and pain are now known to thousands of statin users. Any peripheral nerve can be involved.

The mechanism of action appears to relate to the ubiquinone depletion resulting from statin drugs in what might be called collateral damage from the effect of statins on the mevalonate pathway.

One of the important functions of ubiquinone, in the form of ubiquinol, is the maintenance of cell wall integrity. Every cell in our body depends on ubiquinol for cell wall turgidity and stability.

When inadequate for whatever reason, cell wall integrity is compromised and breakdown of the cell results. Neuropathy, myopathy and even liver cell inflammation all appear to be based upon ubiquinone depletion. Ubiquinone is perhaps better known as Coenzyme Q10 or just CoQ10**.

Certainly no mainstream medical practitioner would dare suggest the use of high dose natural vitamin E to treat and prevent neuropathy. Those who follow biochemistry and orthomolecular approaches to remedy health problems just might.

Afterall, these colleagues of mine, not unlike me, actually read the research.

Now consider that statin drugs are implicated in TGA (transient global amnesia). You ask is it the drug or Alzheimer's? And just how many airline pilots are taking these drugs? (a great attorney class action idea, eh?)

Thanks to SpaceDoc Duane Graveline for his energy in documenting so many problems with these drugs. He is one of the few that also recognizes Red Rice Yeast as having similar health risks as the Rx.

** It is recommended that any one taking any statin or cholesterol lowering drug also take CO Q 10, at least 100 mg daily, or more.