For decades, I've talked about how cholesterol medications called statins are overused in general, and especially so for fibromyalgia where they can cause more pain by causing hormone and coenzyme Q10 deficiency.

I suspect that except for those with known heart disease, where they can be lifesaving, statins have caused more harm than good. But there may be a silver lining to the statin medications' dark cloud.

Research suggests that statins might have a helpful antiviral effect at high doses, and they may even hold promise as an effective new treatment for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia if special (and simple) precautions are added in.

But another theory offers new possibilities for helpful and easy testing and treatment, while offering an understanding of a large new piece of the chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia puzzle.

What stimulated my interest was a study in the journal PLoS showing a direct link between the pathways that make cholesterol and viral infections. According to Professor Peter Ghazal at the University of Edinburgh, "What we have discovered is that a key immune hormone (interferon) stimulated upon infection can lower cholesterol levels and thereby deprive viral infections of the sustenance they need to grow."

Curious as to whether statins, which block cholesterol production, might have an antiviral effect, I did an Internet search on "statin and antiviral" to see if there was anything at all.

Almost a half-million hits popped up.