Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

An Old Cholesterol Remedy Is New Again
NY Times ^ | January 23, 2007 | MICHAEL MASON

Posted on 01/23/2007 6:07:00 PM PST by neverdem

Perhaps you heard it? The wail last month from the labs of heart researchers and the offices of Wall Street analysts?

Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical giant, halted late-stage trials of a cholesterol drug called torcetrapib after investigators discovered that it increased heart problems — and death rates — in the test population.

Torcetrapib wasn’t just another scientific misfire; the drug was to have been a blockbuster heralding the transformation of cardiovascular care. Statin drugs like simvastatin (sold as Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) lower blood levels of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, thereby slowing the buildup of plaque in the arteries.

But torcetrapib worked primarily by increasing HDL, or good cholesterol. Among other functions, HDL carries dangerous forms of cholesterol from artery walls to the liver for excretion. The process, called reverse cholesterol transport, is thought to be crucial to preventing clogged arteries.

Many scientists still believe that a statin combined with a drug that raises HDL would mark a significant advance in the treatment of heart disease. But for patients now at high risk of heart attack or stroke, the news is better than it sounds. An effective HDL booster already exists.

It is niacin, the ordinary B vitamin.

In its therapeutic form, nicotinic acid, niacin can increase HDL as much as 35 percent when taken in high doses, usually about 2,000 milligrams per day. It also lowers LDL, though not as sharply as statins do, and it has been shown to reduce serum levels of artery-clogging triglycerides as much as 50 percent. Its principal side effect is an irritating flush caused by the vitamin’s dilation of blood vessels.

Despite its effectiveness, niacin has been the ugly duckling of heart medications, an old remedy that few scientists cared to examine. But that seems likely to change.

“There’s a great unfilled...”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cholesterol; drugs; heart; niacin; statin; torcetrapib
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last
To: Blue Highway

21 posted on 01/23/2007 7:20:41 PM PST by perfect stranger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: DannyTN
Just read that Anyone taking more than 1000 mg. (1 gram) of niacin or inositol hexanicotinate per day should have their liver enzymes checked regularly.

Other side-effects here and here.

22 posted on 01/23/2007 7:20:41 PM PST by my_pointy_head_is_sharp (We're living in the Dark Ages.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: shield

I recently started adding flaxseed meal to oatmeal (I'm trying to make a habit of eating breakfast, which I've never in the past). Is flaxseed oil better than the flaxseed meal?


23 posted on 01/23/2007 7:23:44 PM PST by Welsh Rabbit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: em2vn
I was put on a cholesterol lowering drug that contained niacin. The second dose put me in the E.R. with a full blown allergic reaction to the niacin and since that episode I have been treated for high blood pressure.

It sounds like a combination that included niacin which is a vitamin. What makes you think it wasn't the other component? Niacin deficiency is called pellagra.

24 posted on 01/23/2007 7:25:18 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: rebelyell7
Ahh, another reminder of why I didn't go into primary care.

What do you do?

25 posted on 01/23/2007 7:27:29 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: shield

Are you a follower of Dr. Johanna Budwig?


26 posted on 01/23/2007 7:33:21 PM PST by goodnesswins (We need to cure Academentia)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp

Thanks pointy_head

Anyone taking supplements should always read up on the side effects.

Atkins did make a comment about some of the side effects of niacin could be avoided by taking the other B vitamins with it. That they work best as a group instead of an individual treatment.


27 posted on 01/23/2007 7:35:32 PM PST by DannyTN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Welsh Rabbit
Yes, I understand it is. You've got to get the omega 3 in your cells. The only way that happens is with Flaxseed Oil and cottage cheese. When this happens the cell is recharged and many many great things occurs throughout your body along with strengthening the heart and if there is any heart damage over time it'll heal. You'll find that oil in health food stores and some grocery stores...must be kept cold so you'll find it in a refrigerated unit.

It does not have to be eaten at breakfast...anytime...

28 posted on 01/23/2007 7:40:09 PM PST by shield (A wise man's heart is at his RIGHT hand; but a fool's heart at his LEFT. Ecc 10:2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Welsh Rabbit

The first time you take niacin your body will flush ... you will feel hot. In time that completely disappears.


29 posted on 01/23/2007 7:42:26 PM PST by BunnySlippers (SAY YES TO RUDY !!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: goodnesswins

Yes...but many many today have gotten hold of it. Before this became popular...I was doing it. And she was the one I got that info from. Followed her diet for several yrs too. She helped to change my way of eating...which has been a blessing for sure.


30 posted on 01/23/2007 7:43:29 PM PST by shield (A wise man's heart is at his RIGHT hand; but a fool's heart at his LEFT. Ecc 10:2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: shield
The only way that happens is with Flaxseed Oil ...

Good call. I lowered my cholestral by 50 points (so far). My doctor had prescribed Lipitor.....but my 77 y.o. Mother said "Bulls**t!" .... and handed me a bottle of flaxseed capsules....

Morale: "Mother knows best!" :)

31 posted on 01/23/2007 8:01:38 PM PST by GoldCountryRedneck ("Idiocy - Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers" - despair.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: GoldCountryRedneck
Try buying Flaxseed Oil in liquid form then take 3 tablespoons in cottage cheese a day. That cholesterol will go down a lot faster and your numbers will be a lot lower...and the omega 3 will actually get into the cells. The flaxseed oil in caps mostly goes right straight through without getting much if any in the cells. Doc Budwig worked for yrs to find a way to get omega 3 in cells that's the way. And yes many times Mom's know best...
32 posted on 01/23/2007 8:17:46 PM PST by shield (A wise man's heart is at his RIGHT hand; but a fool's heart at his LEFT. Ecc 10:2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Conservative4Life

Ping.


33 posted on 01/23/2007 8:20:17 PM PST by Trillian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Because, since that event I get pretty red from eating foodstuffs containing niacin.


34 posted on 01/23/2007 8:26:46 PM PST by em2vn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The drug company Merck is currently developing an anti-flushing agent that is combined with the niacin, to eliminate that side-effect. Longer term, the niacin/anti-flushing agent will be combined with generic Zocor (simvastatin) in a combination tablet.


35 posted on 01/23/2007 8:33:13 PM PST by Panzerfaust
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shield
flaxseed oil in cottage cheese will correct the problem...

If that's the cure, I think I'd rather have the problem.

36 posted on 01/23/2007 8:33:27 PM PST by Monti Cello
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: ukie55; technochick99; little jeremiah

Isn't that in Vegamite that they eat in Australia? I've heard of that causing flushing.
______________________________________________________

No. Prunes cause flushing.


37 posted on 01/23/2007 8:37:58 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

My God, the whining on this thread about flushing--! You men are wimpls. If I only flushed and got red in the face when I took niacin, instead of all the time, I'd be thrilled.


38 posted on 01/23/2007 8:37:59 PM PST by Fairview
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: metmom
I had a heart surgeon tell me once that you can reduce triglycerides by cutting back on carbohydrates.

I am taking an Anatomy & Physiology class right now & our instructor told us that very same thing. He said it's junk carbs, not fats, that cause bad cholesterol to increase. He also said that cholesterol lowering medicines can lower levels too much & that the body needs cholesterol in the right quantities to function properly.

39 posted on 01/23/2007 8:38:09 PM PST by alicewonders
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: alicewonders

I think you're right alice..I have read this also. I think people can get into trouble when they take the fats out of their diet.

The more natural the food..the better the body will like it and respond accordingly. Our food today is not a "benefit" to our bodies..we need to get back to a more natural way of eating. Just my 2!


40 posted on 01/23/2007 8:54:10 PM PST by stillafreemind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson