# Statins the cause of increased tribalism **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224 "2020-01-10T16:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/1 "2020-01-10T16:01:38Z")
A [BBC article](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-the-medications-that-change-who-we-are) suggests that low cholesterol results in lower serotonin which causes increased aggression and hostility and various other bad side effects. Statins, which reduce cholesterol, are one of the most prescribed medicines today. Could this be the cause, or at least a significant factor, in the tribalism we see in today’s politcal climate? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/2 "2020-01-10T16:20:42Z")
Sounds profoundly idiotic to me. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/3 "2020-01-10T16:26:04Z")
I assumed lead poisoning was a major factor in why our politics is so dysfunctional. Lots of people born from the 1930s to early 1960s had high levels of lead exposure due to leaded gasoline and lead paint. Never heard of statins having that effect of irritability, which is interesting. I wonder if taking something like 5HTP along with a statin would reduce that side effect. I’ve read that propranolol can reduce racism though. > **[Drug 'reduces implicit racial bias,' study suggests | University of Oxford](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2012-03-08-drug-reduces-implicit-racial-bias-study-suggests)** > > Taking a heart disease medication can affect a person's subconscious attitudes towards race, a team of ethicists, psychiatrists and psychologists at Oxford University has found. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/4 "2020-01-10T16:39:05Z")
The statin-“tribalism” connection seems very weak based on current knowledge, but it could be worthwhile to further explore the possibility that in a minority of susceptible people undesirable personality traits are exacerbated by these drugs. One other class of drugs that was mentioned was SSRIs used to treat depression. I’m not alarmed by the supposed revelation that these drugs reduce anxiety symptoms (that’s long been part of their appeal) or impressed by the theory that they thus make us less empathetic. I do see an increasingly fertile field for lawyers hoping to convince juries that their violent clients are not to blame for horrific crimes, since “the statins made me do it.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/5 "2020-01-10T16:40:25Z")
I take statins, and I’m a joy to be around. So much for that theory. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/6 "2020-01-10T16:54:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’ve read that propranolol can reduce racism though. > > [Drug 'reduces implicit racial bias,' study suggests | University of Oxford](http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2012-03-08-drug-reduces-implicit-racial-bias-study-suggests) yep, I can totally see that being a thing. > [@](#): > > Propranolol is a beta-blocker used to treat heart disease that blocks activation in the peripheral ‘autonomic’ nervous system and in the area of the brain implicated in fear or emotional responses. The researchers believe propranolol reduced implicit racial basis because such bias is based on automatic, non-conscious fear responses, which propranolol blocks. I take atenolol for hypertension, also a beta blocker like propranolol. In a situation that should cause fight/flight response, my heart rate stays flat, so I do not “feel afraid”. This leads to behavior change. I once saw a big guy who could easily squash me like a bug leave his shopping cart sitting in the parking lot. I shouted across the lot to him, “hey, asshole, don’t leave your cart there”. He could/should have kicked my ass, instead he took his cart to the coral. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/7 "2020-01-10T17:26:10Z")
If blood chemistry were Olympic events I’d be a gold medalist in cholesterol as well as triglycerides. And I can power a small village with my blood pressure. I don’t take anything for any of it, and I am a joy to be around. If you’re a cat. I’m a one man tribe. ---
**Author:** ![iguanas.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c4cdca/32.png) [@iguanas.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iguanas.com)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/8 "2020-01-10T20:16:02Z")
sounds like the theory that ergotism (when a fungus causing in grain causes hallucinations) started off the Salem witch trials. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/9 "2020-01-10T21:12:45Z")
“I’m sorry, Judge. I couldn’t resist turning my ex-lover into a toad. The ergotamine made me do it!” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/10 "2020-01-10T22:07:02Z")
People - like me - take statins to lower their high cholesterol to normal levels, not to lower normal cholesterol to a level that’s too low. I have no aggression and hostility. You can ask my cat. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/11 "2020-01-11T00:23:31Z")
A number of the early cholesterol-lowering studies showed an unanticipated increase in violent death among patients taking statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs. Things like homicide, suicide, and car crashes. It is not a totally ridiculous possibility, but I’d look to the lower cholesterol levels not the drug used to achieve it (cholesterol is needed for brain cells and their function, and other cells too). ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/12 "2020-01-11T01:15:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Sounds profoundly idiotic to me. Ah, I see you’ve taken your pills today. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/13 "2020-01-11T11:09:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > … low cholesterol results in lower serotonin which causes increased aggression and hostility and various other bad side effects. Statins, which reduce cholesterol, are one of the most prescribed medicines today… I take 40 mg daily, and IIRC am supposed to be taking 80 mg. Thanks for this. I may alter my .sig to blame Simvastatin for the recent upsurge in my posting hostility. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/14 "2020-01-11T12:27:56Z")
Is there a difference in statin usage in rural vs urban populations? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/15 "2020-01-11T17:40:02Z")
Seems like the link has been suspected for some time. [From BMJ Case Reports 2011](https://casereports.bmj.com/content/2011/bcr.09.2011.4758): > [@](#): > > Irritability, aggression and other adverse behavioural effects have been associated with the use of statins (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) and other drug classes. A number of studies have also linked low cholesterol with aggression and violence. j ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statins-the-cause-of-increased-tribalism/846224/16 "2020-01-11T19:37:09Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > A number of the early cholesterol-lowering studies showed an unanticipated increase in violent death among patients taking statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs. Things like homicide, suicide, and car crashes. > > It is not a totally ridiculous possibility, but I’d look to the lower cholesterol levels not the drug used to achieve it (cholesterol is needed for brain cells and their function, and other cells too). I always thought that made sense as an instinct. If you are low on cholesterol, you aren’t eating much meat. If you aren’t eating meat, you get the urge to go _kill_ something. Now you have meat; eat it. Something that worked OK in the Stone Age, not so much in an age where people are more likely to get meat from the supermarket.