CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING DRUGS MAY DULL FACULTIES.

Byline: Daniel Q. Haney Associated Press 

Lowering your cholesterol to prevent a heart attack might also dull your edge mentally, a study suggests.

The study raised the possibility that cholesterol-lowering drugs slightly reduce dexterity and attention.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs have become mainstays over the past five years after several studies showed they significantly reduce the risk of dying from heart attacks. An estimated 4 million Americans now take the most popular of these medicines, a class of drugs known as statins.

While the drugs save lives, some doctors have wondered whether these have subtle effects on people's mental and physical performance. Some studies have found that those who lower their cholesterol seem more likely to die in tragedies such as car crashes and suicides, while other research has found no such link.

Researchers say their new study, presented Monday at a meeting of the American Heart Association, is the first to give psychological tests to people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs in an attempt to sort this out.

They emphasized that while their discovery of small decreases in ability are worthy of further study, people should not stop taking their drugs.

Even if the medicines truly do impair performance - and this is not yet proved beyond doubt - their benefits on the heart are still likely to outweigh any possible risks.

``We don't know if this affects people in the way they conduct their lives,'' said Dr. Matthew F. Muldoon of the University of Pittsburgh, who led the study.

However, even though people might not notice the difference during their daily routine, a slight decrease in alertness or coordination could be hazardous at times when people need all their abilities, such as when driving, Muldoon said.

To test this, Muldoon plans a follow-up to see how people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs do on driving simulations, as well as whether their job performance changes.

Muldoon speculated that the drugs could reduce mental functioning in several ways. For instance, cholesterol particles in the bloodstream are known to carry nutrients such as vitamin A. Further, lowering cholesterol could reduce the brain's supply of chemicals it needs to manufacture signal-carrying proteins.

In the study, Muldoon administered a battery of tests to 194 men and women. Half got lovastatin, or Mevacor, a widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug, while the rest got dummy pills. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew which they were taking.

Six months later, everyone was tested again. The study found this time that people getting the drugs scored slightly lower than the others on several tests that measure attention and dexterity. There was no significant difference in their memory.

The differences were small, roughly in the range of 10 percent or less. For instance, in a minute-long test in which people had to fit small pegs into a board, those on the drug finished two seconds slower.

In another, in which people were asked to cross out all the sixes on two pages of numbers, the people taking the drug missed one or two more.