Cholesterol drug reverses heart disease

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | March 13, 2006 | MARILYNN MARCHIONE

[oxcart]

YAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNN...

As I posted earlier on a different thread...

Here is my commercial;

Ask your MD about Niacin if you want to live longer;

When this study (below) first came out it rocked the medical industries. A simple non-patentable drug did wonders.

HMMMMMMMMMMMM?

This is one of many articles that came from the initial study published in 1975.

1: J Am Coll Cardiol. 1986 Dec;8(6):1245-55.


Fifteen year mortality in Coronary Drug Project patients: long-term benefit with niacin.

Canner PL, Berge KG, Wenger NK, Stamler J, Friedman L, Prineas RJ, Friedewald W.

The Coronary Drug Project was conducted between 1966 and 1975 to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of five lipid-influencing drugs in 8,341 men aged 30 to 64 years with electrocardiogram-documented previous myocardial infarction. The two estrogen regimens and dextrothyroxine were discontinued early because of adverse effects. No evidence of efficacy was found for the clofibrate treatment. Niacin treatment showed modest benefit in decreasing definite nonfatal recurrent myocardial infarction but did not decrease total mortality. With a mean follow-up of 15 years, nearly 9 years after termination of the trial, mortality from all causes in each of the drug groups, except for niacin, was similar to that in the placebo group. Mortality in the niacin group was 11% lower than in the placebo group (52.0 versus 58.2%; p = 0.0004). This late benefit of niacin, occurring after discontinuation of the drug, may be a result of a translation into a mortality benefit over subsequent years of the early favorable effect of niacin in decreasing nonfatal reinfarction or a result of the cholesterol-lowering effect of niacin, or both.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Controlled Clinical Trial

PMID: 3782631 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=3782631&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum


IS THIS NEW????

NEW PATENT=MORE MONEY!

[oxcart]

SEE ABOVE

[oxcart]

For all of you that think I am a little out on niacin and heart disease...

Merck: Out Of The Ivory Tower
Its pragmatic strategy includes tweaking the vitamin niacin to make it a blockbuster


Merck & Co. executives have always taken great pride in the 115-year-old company's long list of scientific firsts. It includes the first measles vaccine (1963), the first cholesterol-lowering statin (1987), and what is likely to be the first vaccine for cervical cancer, now under Food & Drug Administration review. The message from Merck (MRK ) over the years was clear: If it isn't cutting-edge, breakthrough science, it isn't Merck.

That's why analysts and investors were surprised when the drug company disclosed a decidedly un-Merck-like project at a Dec. 15 analyst meeting. The plan was, in essence, to tweak NIACIN, a well-known vitamin that raises "good" cholesterol, and turn it into a blockbuster. "It's the first time in a long time I've seen [Merck] act practically," says Morgan Stanley (MS ) analyst Jami Rubin. Such pragmatism will be critical as CEO Richard T. Clark pushes for more efficiency and focus in everything from drug development to sales and marketing to manufacturing. He's candid about Merck's woes. "We were once the envy of the industry," he said at the meeting. "That's not the case today."

No doubt major change is needed at the once iconic drugmaker. It is facing what some analysts estimate could be a $30 billion liability stemming from lawsuits over the withdrawn Vioxx. That painkiller, of course, was another first -- part of an entirely new class of drugs. Adding to the pressure: Two Merck blockbusters must contend with generic competition in the next few years. The biggest hit comes in June, when its $4.4 billion cholesterol-lowering drug, Zocor, loses patent protection in the U.S.

There are promising products in the pipeline, such as Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine, but not enough to offset the generics. So while Clark, who became CEO in May, 2005, has said that a $5 billion cost-cutting effort will help Merck achieve double-digit compound annual growth in earnings per share from 2005 to 2010, Wall Street is skeptical. "The numbers just don't add up," says Trevor M. Polischuk, pharmaceutical analyst at asset managers OrbiMed Advisors LLC.

ALLERGY DISCOVERY
What's clear is that Merck is leaving behind its ivory tower culture. Under former CEO Raymond V. Gilmartin, Merck steered clear of large deals, preferring to get a product or new technology by buying smaller companies. But last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Clark said he was looking for more established businesses, particularly in biotech. Merck is also zeroing in on nine key areas of research, such as heart disease and cancer, rather than trying to cover all bases. It will shift 1,500 reps from selling current products to promoting new vaccines.

The NIACIN project is the most striking example of the new approach. While drugs such as Zocor and Lipitor do a great job of cutting LDL, or bad cholesterol, they only slightly boost HDL, or good cholesterol. NIACIN is much more effective at boosting the good stuff and has been shown to help decrease the risk of heart attacks. But the vitamin often triggers uncomfortable flushes. That problem has been mitigated by newer formulations of niacin, but the vitamin hasn't gained widespread use as a way to combat heart disease. (I WONDER WHY???)

Merck came to the NIACIN project in a roundabout way. While executives declined interviews about the venture, a spokesman confirms that the drug being developed was first studied as a possible treatment for allergies (NIACIN IS A PYRROLASE INHIBITOR). Researchers had come up with a compound for blocking a substance in the body that plays a role in allergic responses. That substance was also found to be central to niacin flushes. The company is starting late-stage human trials, studying the compound in one pill with niacin and in another pill with both niacin and its cholesterol-cutting drug Zocor. (YAWN...SEE HOFFER,ABRAHAM AND NIACIN ALLERGIES)

FDA HURDLES
Merck is accustomed to leading the pack, but this program is an attempted end run around rivals that are out in front. Pfizer Inc. (PFE ) is developing a novel HDL-raising drug called torcetrapib. That drug, along with a competing product in development at Roche Holding Ltd. (RHHVF ), raises good cholesterol differently from niacin (RIGHT LOL). Pfizer hopes to file its drug for approval with the FDA in 2007. But while niacin's benefits are known, Pfizer and Roche need to prove their compounds have real cardiac benefits as well. Should the FDA ask for more data, approval could be delayed (WHY IN THE H E HOCKEY STICKS DO WE SWALLOW THIS?).

If that happens, and if the niacin combo sails through the FDA, Merck could beat Pfizer to market. But Merck also faces challenges: No other drug exists on the market that blocks the substance targeted by Merck's anti-flushing product, and scientists say much is unknown about the role of that molecule in the body. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Richard T. Evans warns that Merck's development program is studying a relatively small number of people, so the FDA may want more data.

Nevertheless, Wall Street is modestly optimistic about Merck's future. A growing sense that Merck can weather the Vioxx storm helped send the stock up 17%, to 35.59, in the past six months. Even if the gussied-up vitamin doesn't take off, it's a sign that Merck can seize a commercial opportunity even when it doesn't have the most dazzling science on the block. "It's sort of like middle age," says SG Cowen & Co. (SCGLY ) analyst Stephen M. Scala. "You admit you can't do all the things you used to."


By Amy Barrett

UGGGGGGGGGGGGG, SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME A REBUTTAL. ALL CAPS ARE MINE. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_10/b3974082.htm

[oxcart]

Clin Exp Dermatol. 2005 Jul;30(4):388-90. Related Articles, Links


Nutritional deficiencies and the skin. (ALLERGIES)

MacDonald A, Forsyth A.

Department of Dermatology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland. AlisonMacDonald21@hotmail.com

Malnutrition states are relatively uncommon in the UK but we have seen two recent cases which have heightened our awareness of both dermatological manifestations of malnutrition and of nutritional sequelae of a dermatological problem. Case 1 is a patient with anorexia nervosa presenting with features of pellagra. This condition is due to deficiency of niacin and responds rapidly to replacement therapy. Classical presentation is an erythematous rash on photoexposed sites, often related to heat or friction. There are three reported cases of pellagra occurring in patients with anorexia nervosa. Case 2 is an adult atopic with sensitizations to multiple foodstuffs. A self-imposed restriction diet caused multiple nutritional deficiencies. Restriction diets in adult atopics are not particularly common in the UK, but there is some evidence to suggest that they may cause significant nutritional deficiency. A nutrition screen may be indicated more frequently than is currently recognized.

Publication Types:
Case Reports

PMID: 15953078 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[webstersII]

"— We have heard for decades that we must have low blood cholesterol levels — the lower the better. "

The other issue is that cholesterol is important for brain health. Some studies show cholesterol too low can make dementia worse.

[Katya]

Whether someone gets ill from so-called elevated levels of cholesterol, depends on their individual make up as well. My grandmother has had cholesterol levels of over 300 for the last thirty years...she's 95. Her doctor tried to convince her to try cholesterol meds about five years ago...she declined. My own mother, who is a vegetarian and slim as a rail hovers around 260. My father on the other hand, has always had a weight problem, but never crosses the 200 mark.

[djf]

Cholesterol is one of the most important substances in the body. It is the pre-cursor for a large number of hormones and steroid like elements.

Vitamin D is made from cholesterol, and it is turning out to be one of the most important vitamins ever discovered, almost as important as C.

[Controlling Legal Authority]

See if this helps. Suggest an MRI of the heart. My cholesterol is also on the high side, but an MRI showed that my arteries are clean as a whiste. The cost was about 250. My thought is that if I am 50 but have no blockage, why mess with statins?

[yhwhsman]

You get the feeling that some of these "announcements" are related to some large stock holder's position in that stock that he wants to unload?

Especially in light of the fact that Drs constantly prescribe more and more pills for patients without actually curing anything, and the drug companies are advertising the h3ll out of their new drugs trying to convince you to take even more pills.

[Cold Heart]

Reference

[Fighting Irish]

I was told once that if you can get cholesterol below 100 you'll NEVER die of a heart attack.

Is that true?

[webstersII]

"Vitamin D is made from cholesterol, and it is turning out to be one of the most important vitamins ever discovered, almost as important as C."

Good point. Thanks for pointing that out. Even the AMA is re-thinking their ideas on sun exposure because of the Vitamin D from the sun that is necessary. In the right amounts sun is a benefit not a bad thing.

With some of the research into Vitamin D and rates of cancer and other serious diseases D may become the next supplement people need to take in addition to C.

[djf]

Problem is, Vitamin D is made from the UVb rays. And UVb only gets through the atmosphre if the sun is 30 degrees or so from the zenith (the highest point in the sky).

Most of North America, at least ConUS, only gets this within a few weeks of the first day of summer. The rest of the year, you could spend 8 hours a day in the (low) sun and not get any Vitamin D at all.

[6ppc]

I've tried several of the statins and Crestor is the only one that didn't make me ache all over and feel like crap. I haven't tried Lipitor, so I'm not sure about it.

[Aquinasfan]

THANK YOU for that citation about cholesterol.....currently FIGHTING against my husband taking ANY cholesterol meds......I don't believe he needs them, but the doc thinks he does (he's 268).....

Is this my wife? We're going through the same exact thing 8-)

[Aquinasfan]

With some of the research into Vitamin D and rates of cancer and other serious diseases D may become the next supplement people need to take in addition to C.

I started taking it for SAD, and it worked like a miracle. I didn't have depression, but just awful fatigue in the winter months. I haven't had a problem since taking 1000 i.u. of Vitamin D every day.

[goodnesswins]

LOL....I'm trying to get my husband (cited above) to take Vitamin D also.....today he's seeing a Doctor who might finally convince him.....he's not your "normal, everyday doc" thank heaven.

[webstersII]

"Most of North America, at least ConUS, only gets this within a few weeks of the first day of summer. "

Wow. I hadn't heard that one.

I'd like to read up on this one some more. Can you point me toward some more info?

[webstersII]

"I started taking it for SAD, and it worked like a miracle. I didn't have depression, but just awful fatigue in the winter months. I haven't had a problem since taking 1000 i.u. of Vitamin D every day."

That's much healthier than taking anti-depressants, too.

[djf]

http://www.diagnose-me.com/questionnaire/Q3387.html

I have read other sites that suggest this summary is actually pretty optimistic.