Video Citing stroke risk gov't stops niacin study NIH of to prevent heart attacks Abbott’s Cholesterol Franchise Dinged By End Niaspan Trial Combo Treatment Halted shows no good at cutting Taking does not problems ESC Investigative Niacin Turns Down the Heat on Flushing HDLRaising Drug Fails To Show Benefit In Government Study clinical trial combination cholesterol treatment

The government stopped a study intended to reduce heart attacks and strokes using cholesterol-lowering drugs and high-dose niacin. Dr. Jon LaPook discusses the failed study and what to do if you are currently taking niacin. Disappointing news: A drug that raises people's so-called good cholesterol didn't go on to prevent heart attacks. The trial looked at whether adding Niaspan to certain heart-disease patients' statin drug regimens would prevent more cardiac events than a statin alone. (MedPage Today) -- Adding extended-release niacin to statin treatment did not decrease cardiovascular events in 32 months of follow-up, leading the NIH to stop the AIM-HIGH trial 18 months earlier than scheduled, researchers reported Scientists had hoped to show that high doses of niacin would raise levels of good cholesterol and lower heart risk CHICAGO (Reuters) - Giving a high dose of niacin to people with heart disease who are already taking a cholesterol-lowering statin does nothing more to prevent heart attacks and strokes, U.S. government researchers said on Thursday. VIENNA -- Six months of an investigational niacin compound, compared with placebo, led to a significant drop in LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, and a significant rise in HDL according to researchers here. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute stopped a large clinical trial of prescription niacin, which raises high density lipoprotein, the "good cholesterol," failed to show a benefit in preventing heart attacks and strokes. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has stopped a clinical trial studying a blood lipid treatment 18 months earlier than planned. The trial found that adding high dose, extended-release niacin to statin treatment in people with heart and vascular disease, did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.
Key Words: niacin

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