Excess niacin causes blood vessel inflammation and cardiovascular disease

[Mastodont]

 

[Melody68]

At one time I did use niacin. I liked the flush that it gave me. It raised my HDL by 30% or more and lowered my triglycerides. According to the article it lowers LDL cholesterol which we all know is false. I no longer use niacin because it did cause issues with my labs.

"According to the article it lowers LDL cholesterol which we all know is false." Vince, perhaps this is a typo or an error in what you meant to say? Niacin dramatically lowered my LDL, better than a statin that I took prior to finding niacin.

The reasoning that I would choose niacin again today is still the same as when I did so in/around 1998. I had high Lp(a) and high LDL. My choices to lower the LDL were either statin or niacin. Experimenting with statins, I discovered that they raised Lp(a) even higher (an effect recognized today, but not back then). That left niacin, which lowered both Lp(a) and LDL. I'm aware of the recent negative publicity on niacin, but I'm sure there are also negative studies on the other option, statins.

 

[Vince]

"According to the article it lowers LDL cholesterol which we all know is false." Vince, perhaps this is a typo or an error in what you meant to say? Niacin dramatically lowered my LDL, better than a statin that I took prior to finding niacin.

The reasoning that I would choose niacin again today is still the same as when I did so in/around 1998. I had high Lp(a) and high LDL. My choices to lower the LDL were either statin or niacin. Experimenting with statins, I discovered that they raised Lp(a) even higher (an effect recognized today, but not back then). That left niacin, which lowered both Lp(a) and LDL; it has worked well to date for me. I'm aware of the recent negative publicity on niacin, but I'm sure there are also negative studies on the other option, statins.

Yes, preventative doctors stopped telling patients to use niacin. According to the latest studies, niacin does more harm than good.

How excess niacin may promote cardiovascular disease

Findings about a metabolite of niacin, or vitamin B3, raise concerns about the health effects of too much niacin and suggest new measures to help prevent or treat cardiovascular disease

www.nih.gov

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

AFAIK, niacin is one of the few things that lower Lp(a). It is important to take a methyl donor with it however.