Posted on 02/14/2006 1:50:42 AM PST by djf
for later
mark
ping
And Castro is really a great guy--Dan Rather told me so.
I think half of what you hear about vitamins is all bull to be honest . Half the time they just make for expensive urine. Not saying that all vitamins are useless , just don't believe all the hype here. Every week it's a new discovery . .It also seems that every month "they " change what's good for you , usually the exact opposite of what what "they " told you was good for you the month before.
I take Lipitor, and it has dropped hy LDL's to "low normal" level and increased my HDL's "slightly". I've thus far had zero problems--but I "do" take supplemental CoQ10 (and have been for years---before starting the Lipitor).
"CONCLUSIONS: Policosanol seems to be a very promising phytochemical alternative to classic lipid-lowering agents such as the statins and deserves further evaluation."
Seems like the Cubans may be on to something as the peer-reviewed research indicates. But then, that's how it works. Research docs publish and others try to replicate the results. This looks promising.
That is pretty interesting. The rise in heart disease in the US coincided nicely with the conversion from cane sugar to corn sweetener for most processed foods - I wonder if there is a relation?
Sounds great, but this stuff is made from sugar cane. Don't think Cuba has an interest in promoting production of sugar do you? Need confirmation of this from an "unbiased" sourced. Till this occurs I will just assume that Fidel is attempting to increase sugar exports.
Wow! Good news! My total cholesterol is over 300, but my HDL is over 220, making the ratio 2:1, which is ideal. My doctor would like to see the total come down without effecting the HDL/LDL ration. This just might work! Thanks for the post!
ping... any further info on this?
Thanks
The Cuban source for some of this work certainly gives one pause, but (a)the work is published in some respected international journals, where inclusion means that other scientists had to review and dissect their work before it got published, and (b)other researchers who don't sound Cuban are also looking a little bit at this substance, and they may or may not be able to replicate the original findings. Fortunately the type of replicating study design everybody is using is quick and cheap to put together, which means that findings can be generated fast and an article can see the light of print only a few years after the study begins. I'll reserve judgment for the moment.
mark for later read
Ping.
Does it have to be the lumpy stuff or will the crunchy oatmeal cereal work?
Interesting website!
If you have a ping list, could you add me to it?
T.I.A. if you do!
Well, I think the interesting thing is NOT that it is a Castro-Commie-fascist conspiracy, but rather that we are talking here about SUGAR CANE!
I would lose a bet if I said people have been chopping up and sucking on sugar cane for ten thousand years, because it's probably been far longer than that!
If SUGAR CANE so much as caused ingrown toenails, believe me, we'd a figured it out a long time ago.
This is the first that I've heard about policosanol. Here's the first page from Medscape one of the review articles from PubMed.
Meta-Analysis of Natural Therapies for Hyperlipidemia: Plant Sterols and Stanols Versus Policosanol
Judy T. Chen, Pharm.D.; Robert Wesley, Ph.D.; Robert D. Shamburek, M.D.; Frank Pucino, Pharm.D.; Gyorgy Csako, M.D.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Study Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of plant sterols and stanols as well as policosanol in the treatment of coronary heart disease, as measured by a reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) levels.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Patients: A total of 4596 patients from 52 eligible studies. Measurements and Main Results: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from January 1967-June 2003 to identify pertinent studies. Reduction of LDL levels was the primary end point; effects on other lipid parameters and withdrawal of study patients due to adverse effects were the secondary end points. Weighted estimates of percent change in LDL were -11.0% for plant sterol and stanol esters 3.4 g/day (range 2-9 g/day [893 patients]) versus -2.3% for placebo (769 patients) in 23 eligible studies, compared with -23.7% for policosanol 12 mg/day (range 5-40 mg/day [1528 patients]) versus -0.11% for placebo (1406 patients) in 29 eligible studies. Cumulative p values were significantly different from placebo for both (p<0.0001). The net LDL reduction in the treatment groups minus that in the placebo groups was greater with policosanol than plant sterols and stanols (-24% versus -10%, p<0.0001). Policosanol also affected total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglyceride levels more favorably than plant sterols and stanols. Policosanol caused a clinically significant decrease in the LDL:HDL ratio. Pooled withdrawal rate due to adverse effects and combined relative risk for patients who withdrew were 0% and 0.84, respectively (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.36-1.95, p=0.69), for plant sterols and stanols across 20 studies versus 0.86% and 0.31, respectively (95% CI 0.20-0.48, p<0.0001), for policosanol across 28 studies.
Conclusion: Plant sterols and stanols and policosanol are well tolerated and safe; however, policosanol is more effective than plant sterols and stanols for LDL level reduction and more favorably alters the lipid profile, approaching antilipemic drug efficacy.
Introduction
Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the leading cause of death in industrialized nations. Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) level is a major risk factor for CHD, hence it is the primary target of lipid-lowering therapy.[1] Due to concerns regarding adverse effects and patient reluctance to comply with chemically derived drug therapies, alternative natural therapies have become increasingly popular over the last decade.[2,3]
Plant (phyto) sterols are naturally occurring cholesterol derivatives (e.g., sitosterol, campesterol, brassicasterol, stigmasterol) from vegetable oils, nuts, soy, corn, woods, and beans. Hydrogenation of plant sterols produces stanols. Esterification produces sterol and/or stanol esters. The generic term phytosterols often is used to describe both sterols and stanols and their esters. The LDL-lowering efficacy of plant stanols is considered comparable with that of plant sterols.[4-8] The United States National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III endorses plant sterol and stanol esters 2 g/day as an essential feature of therapeutic lifestyle changes along with diet modifications, weight reduction, intake of viscous fibers, and increased physical activity to reduce risk for CHD.[1]
Another natural product, policosanol, is an antilipemic agent that includes mixtures of aliphatic primary alcohols extracted from sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L) wax. Its main components are octacosanol (62.9%), triacontanol (12.6%), and hexacosanol (6.2%).[9] Policosanol is used for reduction of LDL levels in more than 25 countries, mainly in the Caribbean and South America. Clinical studies have demonstrated consistent LDL-lowering activity of policosanol without apparent toxicity concerns.[9,10]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 1 of 5 Next Page: Methods
From the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana ( Dr. Chen ); and the Departments of Pharmacy ( Dr. Pucino ), Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology Service ( Dr. Wesley ), and Laboratory Medicine ( Dr. Csako ), and the Molecular Disease Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ( Dr. Shamburek ), Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland.
Pharmacotherapy. 2005; 25 (2): 171-183. ©2005 Pharmacotherapy Publications
Here's the last sentence from the conclusion:
"However, large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials directly comparing the various products are needed to confirm these findings."
Don't hold your breath on that study, but IIRC, this country has a large sugar cane industry and lobby. If someone couldn't tolerate statins, policosanol seems a reasonable alternative.
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