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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
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To: shield

Disregard my question (re: Budwig), it was answered previously on the thread.

So sorry.


61 posted on 01/24/2007 8:38:36 AM PST by diamond6 (Everyone who is for abortion has been born. Ronald Reagan)
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To: Welsh Rabbit

Try a different suppliment, I highly doubt you are alergic to Niacin, its one of the fundamental building blocks... most likely you were allergic to one of the ingredients used as filler in the pills.


62 posted on 01/24/2007 8:38:57 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: Lil'freeper

Ping!


63 posted on 01/24/2007 8:43:13 AM PST by 2Jedismom (Expect me when you see me!)
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To: neverdem
I was behind a woman in Walmart yesterday that had a "nicein".
64 posted on 01/24/2007 8:43:15 AM PST by WKB (A wasted day is a day in which we have not laughed!)
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To: Welsh Rabbit

My husband's doctor put him on Niacin before trying Lipator (sp?). What you are describing are symptoms his doctor told him to watch for (you may not be allergic to it afterall), he advised him to take an aspirin to counter attack those symptoms. My husband said the aspirin helped some, but he ended up going on a statin drug anyway.


65 posted on 01/24/2007 8:47:23 AM PST by MissEdie (Liberalscostlives)
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To: MissEdie

My Dr. started me on 500mg of niaspan at night with one asprin for a month then increased to 1000mg. I have only experienced flushing one time when I forgot to take my pill at bedtime and took it first thing in the morning.


66 posted on 01/24/2007 8:55:09 AM PST by antisocial (Texas SCV - Deo Vindice)
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To: WesternPacific

"Cottage cheese, yuk!"

We make a blueberry drink and use flax oil and cottage cheese in it (and rice or almond vanilla flavored "milk" as well as lecithin and psyllium)....for a morning drink.....can't hardly taste the cottage cheese (it's blended.)


67 posted on 01/24/2007 9:44:26 AM PST by goodnesswins (We need to cure Academentia)
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To: WesternPacific
Yogurt...some say it's not as good...I've done both and found pretty much the same results.
68 posted on 01/24/2007 4:35:48 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)
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To: neverdem

Thanks for posting this article, neverdem. Bookmarking for future reference. :)


69 posted on 01/24/2007 4:39:06 PM PST by Chena
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To: GoldCountryRedneck

Yes, Yogurt...it'll get the job done. I didn't like cottage cheese either but once I added flaxseed oil to it...I found it to be great!!!


70 posted on 01/24/2007 4:40:02 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)
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To: shield

I'm gonna buck the tide here- I *love* cottage cheese. Especially with some sliced peaches. :-)


71 posted on 01/24/2007 5:42:22 PM PST by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: Grizzled Bear

My doctor put me on Niaspan and recommended that I eat several prunes before taking the medicine to help prevent flushing.


72 posted on 02/21/2007 9:37:16 PM PST by ajrfman
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To: neverdem

Bookmarked for later


73 posted on 11/22/2009 12:23:23 AM PST by Aurorales
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