Choose Your Vitamins Like Your Life Depends On It.
Pharmacy vs. Natural Health
Niacin found to be more effective against cholesterol than Lovastatin!
The drug, Lovastatin, and the vitamin, niacin, were compared in a controlled, randomized, open label study of 26 weeks' duration that was conducted at the five lipid clinics. 136 patients with primary hypercholesterolemia participated in the study.
The study consisted of a 4-week diet run-in period after which eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either Lovastatin (20 mg/d) or niacin (1.5 g/d) for 10 weeks. On the basis of the LDL cholesterol response and patient tolerance, the doses were sequentially increased to 40 and 80 mg/d of Lovastatin or 3 and 4.5 g/d of niacin after 10 and 18 weeks of treatment.
At 26 weeks, the results showed that niacin and Lovastatin had significantly reduced cholesterol levels (23% and 32% respectively). A key finding, though, was that niacin was more effective than Lovastatin in increasing HDL cholesterol levels -- the "good" cholesterol (33% and 7% respectively).
SOURCE: (Arch Intern Med. 1994 Jul 25;154(14): 1586-95)
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