Posted on 01/23/2007 3:01:37 PM PST by blam
Niacin expected to grow as heart treatment
CLEVELAND, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A Cleveland doctor says use of niacin as a cholesterol drug is likely to increase following the failure of a drug that was found to increase heart problems.
Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the famed Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology, said niacin, a B vitamin that raises HDL, commonly known as good cholesterol, is likely to increase in prominence after trials of the Pfizer Inc. cholesterol drug torcetrapib failed, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Raising HDL levels in patients helps to reduce lower blood levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol.
"There's a great unfilled need for something that raises HDL," Nissen said. "Right now, in the wake of the failure of torcetrapib, niacin is really it. Nothing else available is that effective."
Niacin, in its therapeutic form of nicotinic acid, has been found to increase HDL levels by as much as 35 percent, as well as reduce levels of artery-clogging triglycerides by as much as 50 percent.
Are you just taking an over-the-counter supplement?
Niacin is also believed by some to have a positive effect on blood sugar regulation.
Me too, non-blush, OTC. I'm type 2 diabetic and I'm interested to see what this does for me. I was taking Omacor, an insanely expensive Omega-3 supplement, but it only raised my HDL by like 3 points.
http://www.doctoryourself.com/niacin.html
Thanks for posting (and all of your posts)...interesting. Hope you are both doing well.
Interesting, my son takes it.
Been taking it for years. Along with a statin my cholesterol numbers are great. Cheap, over the counter. Wal-Mart has it, among other retailers.
I'm taking 20mg of Lovastatin and 500mg Niacin(Niaspan-KOS) daily on a prescription from my doctor. He tried to increase my Lovastatin to 40mg daily but I started having urinary problems. That's when he put me on Niacin and reduced by Lovastatin back to 20mg daily. My cholestorel was 199 when he made these changes.
I go to the VA doc once a year just to keep current in the system. When he found out I was taking niacin he wrote a presciption for it. It's cheaper that way. They don't cover my Vytorin though.
My doctor told me to go get 500mg of Niacin and take it. So I went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist which one should I take as there was the slow release, fast acting, etc. I think he said the fast acting would be better but then you get the flushing. He said your doctor should check your blood for any liver damage after you have been on it awhile, just like they check when you are on cholesterol medication. I told him my doctor never even mentioned possible liver damage or having tests done, so I said forget it. I wasn't going to start on the stuff. That is the problem with so many doctors. It seems they get you taking things but then never monitor it.
Actually it can have NEGATIVE effects which is why diabetics should be cautious in its use. Take 500mg slo-niacin. Avoid the flush!
"That is the problem with so many doctors. It seems they get you taking things but then never monitor it."
Very few monitor their patients when they are on cholesterol drugs even though they should.
Niacin is powerful stuff. Careful out there.
I gave blood last friday for a full blood 'work-up' and will review the results with my doctor this friday. He takes pretty good care of me. I'm 63 and the only thing wrong with me is elevated cholesterol.
What is "flush"?
I remember the flush when taking it on an empty stomach.... pounding heart, tingly feeling all over, blood rushing to your face... and drinking water to make it stop.
Torcetrapib must have been in testing because it isn't listed in the formularies.
If you take aspirin daily, try taking it when you take your Niacin. For me, it cuts down on the flushing.
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