Where are the Niacin Studies for Schizophrenia?

from November 2009, timely today in regard to the discussion about psychiatry currently in the news.

Natural Mental Health

UPDATE 12/21 - Food Sources of Niacin (B3)

UPDATE: 12/18 - If you have been a proponent of natural mental health you would already have known that omega 3 EFAs have been an effective help to many who live with several mental health issues.

BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids may be a factor in mental illnesses, U.S. researchers suggest.

The study, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, named two omega-3 fatty acids -- docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid -- as key to maintaining a nervous system capable of avoiding sensory overload.

The researchers suggest low omega-3 may be linked to the information-processing problems found in people with afflictions of the nervous system including schizophrenia and bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders.

The researchers looked at nervous system function in the offspring of four groups of pregnant mice that had been fed different diets with no or varying types and amounts of omega-3s. Only the mice raised on the two omega-3 fatty acids showed normal, adaptive sensorimotor nervous responses that did not result in the animals being perpetually startled and easily overwhelmed by sensory stimuli.

"It is an uphill battle now to reverse the message that 'fats are bad,' and to increase omega-3 fats in our diet," study leader Norman Salem Jr. of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda said in a statement.

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Travelling back some 50 or more years ago there were some members of the medical profession who took a totally different look at mental health issues.  Instead of fluoride based anti-psychotics, these courageous fellows relied on nutritional supplementation and effectively treated thousands of people diagnosed as schizophrenic.

And to make it all the more respectable, numerous scientific reports were issued on this care that came to be known as orthomolecular medicine.

And you might wonder why PubMed fails to include the orthomolecular journal so you might be more able to find related data.

Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders
Double blind controlled therapeutic trials in Saskatchewan in 1952 showed that adding vitamin B-3 to the treatment then available, which was electro convulsive therapy, doubled the recovery rate. From this start, and corroborated by a large number of clinical studies and by one double blind corroborative study that was sponsored by National Institute of Mental Health, Washington, this early treatment has been refined and expanded. There are no negative studies. It now includes examination of the diet for possible food allergies; includes using optimum doses of vitamin B-3, which range from 3 to 12 or more grams daily; includes the use of vitamin C as an important antioxidant and other vitamins if needed, plus the best medication. As patients respond, the doses of medication and the nutrients are adjusted until the optimum doses of all nutrients and drugs is achieved. This treatment should be under medical control.

Nutrients Most Commonly Used For Schizophrenia and Schizo-Affective Disorders (under medical supervision):



* Vitamin B-3

* Vitamin C

* Vitamin B-6

* Zinc

* Vitamin B complex

* Selenium

Mood Disorders: Anxiety, Bipolar or Depression -
The following nutrients are helpful in controlling mood disorders (under medical supervision):


* Niacinamide

* B complex

* Vitamin C

* Folic acid

* Vitamin D

* Vitamin B-6
* Zinc citrate

* Essential fatty acids


In contrast to anti depressant medication I have not yet seen the type of warning issued by Professor Lana Watkins PhD, Duke University, who told the Annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society held in Denver, March 4, 2006, that current anti depressants increased the risk of dying from heart disease by 55 percent.

"Orthomolecular treatment does not lend itself to rapid drug-like control of symptoms, but patients get well to a degree not seen by tranquilizer therapists who believe orthomolecular therapists are prone to exaggeration. Those who've seen the results are astonished." 
---Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., 1917-2009

Read: http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/arthritis-drugs-pose-cancer-risk.html

FDA Okays New Antipsychotic for Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder
By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today, August 14, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The FDA approved the atypical antipsychotic asenapine (Saphris) for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults, making it the first psychotropic drug to gain initial approval for both conditions.

The drug is indicated for first-line use in acute treatment of schizophrenia and of manic or mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder, with or without psychotic features.

FDA approval was based on data from more than 3,000 patients showing statistically significant efficacy versus placebo in acute schizophrenia trials and statistically significant reduction of bipolar mania symptoms versus placebo.

The drug showed signs of treating negative schizophrenia symptoms better than risperidone (Risperdal) in early clinical trials, but the advantage was not subsequently confirmed against olanzapine (Zyprexa, Zydis). (See APA: New Drug No Better for Negative Schizophrenia Symptoms)

Like other atypical antipsychotics, asenapine's side effects include sedation, weight gain, tardive dyskinesia, and diabetes risks. However, a clinical trial showed that asenapine's rate of weight gain was significantly lower than that experienced with olanzapine, a similar antipsychotic.

Atypical antipsychotics also show an increased likelihood of death in elderly patients treated for dementia-related psychosis.

The tablets are available in five and 10 mg doses and should be taken twice daily.

Manufacturer Schering-Plough said it plans to make the drug available in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Read more »

Posted in: antipsychotics,atypical antipsychotics,B3,food source of B3,food source of niacin,natural mental health,niacin,niacinamide,Omega 3,orthomolecular medicine,schizophrenia,vitamins

Vitamins for Alzheimer's

September 2010 Good News for B Vitamins and Your Brain
Ranks now in the TOP10 out of 3.9 M

Access the May 2007 issue of herbalYODA Says! that focuses on vitamin B12 with a donation to help us continue this work.
Elder Health
Updated from May 09
2004 Article,  Don't Overlook There ALZ Remiders, Related NHN article  This post ranks 1 of 1.23 Million about vitamins for Alzheimer's

Food and Life

for information on how to use B3 therapeutically, contact us for our fact sheet

UPDATE: 4 May, 2009

No wonder vitamin E works, it is antioxidant and carries O2 across the cell wall membrane as well as offering a myriad of other remarkable healing attributes.

Another FAT soluble vitamin to the rescue!

Use the search window to learn more about vitamin E on Natural Health News

Vitamin E may slow Alzheimer's disease By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An analysis of "real-world" clinical data indicates that vitamin E, and drugs that reduce generalized inflammation, may slow the decline of mental and physical abilities in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over the long term.

"Our results are consistent for a potential benefit of vitamin E on slowing functional decline and a smaller possible benefit of anti-inflammatory medications on slowing cognitive decline in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Alireza Atri told Reuters Health.

Atri, at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the VA Bedford Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, led the National Institutes of Health-sponsored research. The findings, reported at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Chicago, stem from data on 540 patients treated at the MGH Memory Disorders Unit.

All of the patients were receiving standard-of-care treatment with a drug intended to help patients with Alzheimer's. As part of their clinical care, 208 patients also took vitamin E but no anti-inflammatory, 49 took an anti-inflammatory but no vitamin E, 177 took both vitamin E and an anti-inflammatory, and 106 took neither.

While the daily dose of vitamin E ranged from 200 to 2000 units, the majority of patients were given high doses that ranged from 800 units daily to 1000 units twice daily.

Each patient's performance on cognitive tests and their ability to carry out daily functions such as dressing and personal care were assessed every 6 months. After an average of 3 years, "there was a modest slowing of decline in function in those patients taking vitamin E," study investigator Michael R. Flaherty noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

Flaherty, a second-year student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, presented the findings at the meeting. He added that the treatment benefit from vitamin E was "small to medium" but increased with time.

Taking an anti-inflammatory medication was associated with "very consistent but generally only small effects on slowing long-term decline in cognitive functioning," Atri told Reuters Health.

However, in patients who took both vitamin E and anti-inflammatory medications, there appeared to be an additive effect in terms of slowing overall decline.

Given that past studies have produced equivocal results, the investigators conclude that further studies are needed to assess the long-term balance of risks versus benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease from taking vitamin E and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.

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UPDATE: 23 MARCH, 2009

Niacin Protects against Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline

Niacin (vitamin B3) is already known to lower cholesterol. Now, research published in the August 2004 issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry indicates regular consumption of niacin-rich foods also provides protection against Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline.

Researchers from the Chicago Health and Aging Project interviewed 3,718 Chicago residents aged 65 or older about their diet, then tested their cognitive abilities over the following six years.

Those getting the most niacin from foods (22 mg per day) were 70% less likely to have developed Alzheimer's disease than those consuming the least (about 13 mg daily), and their rate of age-related cognitive decline was significantly less. In addition to eating the niacin-rich foods, another way to boost your body's niacin levels is to eat more foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan. Your body can convert tryptophan to niacin, with a little help from other B vitamins, iron and vitamin C. Foods high in tryptophan include shrimp, crimini mushrooms, yellowfin tuna, halibut, chicken breast, scallops, salmon, turkey and tofu. As you can see, several foods rich in tryptophan provide two ways to increase niacin levels as they are also rich in the B vitamin.(August 23, 2004)

UPDATE: 12 March, 2009

Another supplement to help Alzheimer's: "One of the newer drugs developed in Europe apparently 'works' by protecting brain cells from damage by over-production of glutamate, one of the well known actions of lithium.

Other research findings strongly suggest that lithium may protect against Alzheimer's disease and slow the progression of the disease. Lithium inhibits beta-amaloid secretion and protects against damage caused by beta-amyloid protein after it has formed.

Over-activation of tau protein in the brain also contributes to neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer's disease, as does the formation of neurofibrilary tangles. Lithium inhibits both of these.

People with Alzheimer's have excess aluminum accumulation in brain cells. Lithium can help protect against aluminum accumulation through chelation and easier removal from the body."

See also a related B3 article I posted in November - xref: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

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While we are on this thread of natural help for dis-ease isn't it timely that I just received this article about how "High Doses of Vitamins Fight Alzheimer's Disease".

And now I am sharing it with you, for your education, and then you can ask your doctor why they aren't recommending them.

Vitamin B3 is also used successfully for schizophrenia, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, reducing plaque of arteriosclerosis and cholesterol reduction. It has an excellent anti-inflammatory action.

(OMNS, December 9, 2008) The news media recently reported that "huge doses of an ordinary vitamin appeared to eliminate memory problems in mice with the rodent equivalent of Alzheimer's disease." They then quickly added that "scientists aren't ready to recommend that people try the vitamin on their own outside of normal doses." (1)

In other words, extra-large amounts of a vitamin are helpful, so don't you take them!

That does not even pass the straight-faced test. So what's the story?

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine gave the human dose equivalent of 2,000 to 3,000 mg of vitamin B3 to mice with Alzheimer's. (2) It worked. Kim Green, one of the researchers, is quoted as saying, "Cognitively, they were cured. They performed as if they'd never developed the disease."



for information on how to use B3 therapeutically, contact us for our fact sheet

Specifically, the study employed large amounts of nicotinamide, the vitamin B3 widely found in foods such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds. Nicotinamide is also the form of niacin found, in far greater quantity, in dietary supplements. It is more commonly known as niacinamide. It is inexpensive and its safety is long established. The most common side effect of niacinamide in very high doses is nausea. This can be eliminated by taking less, by using regular niacin instead, which may cause a warm flush, or choosing inositol hexaniacinate, which does not. They are all vitamin B3.
HealthDay Reporter mentioned how cheap the vitamin is; the study authors "bought a year's supply for $30" and noted that it "appears to be safe." Even so, one author said that "I wouldn't advocate people rush out and eat grams of this stuff each day." (1)
The BBC quoted Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the UK Alzheimer's Research Trust, who said, "Until the human research was completed, people should not start taking the supplement. . . . people should be wary about changing their diet or taking supplements. In high doses vitamin B3 can be toxic." (3)
The Irish Times reiterated it: "People have been cautioned about rushing out to buy high dose vitamin B3 supplements in an attempt to prevent memory loss . . . The warnings came today one day on from the announcement . . .Vitamins in high doses can be toxic." (4)
Their choice of words is quaint but hardly accurate. There is no wild "rush;" half of the population already takes food supplements. And as for "toxic," niacin isn't. Canadian psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, M.D., asserts that it is actually remarkably safe. "There have been no deaths from niacin supplements," Dr. Hoffer says. "The LD 50 (the dosage that would kill half of those taking it) for dogs is 5,000-6,000 milligrams per kilogram body weight. That is equivalent to almost a pound of niacin per day for a human. No human takes 375,000 milligrams of niacin a day. They would be nauseous long before reaching a harmful dose." Dr. Hoffer conducted the first double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of niacin. He adds, "Niacin is not liver toxic. Niacin therapy increases liver function tests. But this elevation means that the liver is active. It does not indicate an underlying liver pathology."
The medical literature repeatedly confirms niacin's safety. Indeed, for over 50 years, nutritional (orthomolecular) physicians have used vitamin B3 in doses as high as tens of thousands of milligrams per day. Cardiologists frequently give patients thousands of milligrams of niacin daily to lower cholesterol. Niacin is preferred because its safety margin is so very large. The American Association of Poison Control Centers' Toxic Exposure Surveillance System annual reports indicates there is not even one death per year due to niacin in any of its forms. (5)
One the other hand, there are 140,000 deaths annually attributable to properly prescribed prescription drugs. (6) And this figure is just for one year, and just for the USA. Furthermore, when overdoses, incorrect prescription, and adverse drug interactions are figured in, total drug fatalities number over a quarter of a million dead. Each year.
The BBC's curious mention that we should even be "wary about changing our diets" is especially odd. More and more scientists think our much-in-need-of-improvement diets are what contribute more than anything to developing Alzheimer's. "There appears to be a statistically significant link between a low dietary intake of niacin and a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. A study of the niacin intake of 6158 Chicago residents 65 years of age or older established that the lower the daily intake of niacin, the greater the risk of becoming an Alzheimer's disease patient." The group with the highest daily intake of niacin had a 70 percent decrease in incidence of this disease compared to the lowest group. "The most compelling evidence to date is that early memory loss can be reversed by the ascorbate (vitamin C) minerals. Greater Alzheimer's disease risk also has been linked to low dietary intake of vitamin E and of fish." (7)
Nutrient deficiency of long standing may create a nutrient dependency. A nutrient dependency is an exaggerated need for the missing nutrient, a need not met by dietary intakes or even by low-dose supplementation. Robert P. Heaney, M.D., uses the term "long latency deficiency diseases" to describe illnesses that fit this description. He writes: "Inadequate intakes of many nutrients are now recognized as contributing to several of the major chronic diseases that affect the populations of the industrialized nations. Often taking many years to manifest themselves, these disease outcomes should be thought of as long-latency deficiency diseases. . . Because the intakes required to prevent many of the long-latency disorders are higher than those required to prevent the respective index diseases, recommendations based solely on preventing the index diseases are no longer biologically defensible." (8) Where pathology already exists, unusually large quantities of vitamins may be needed to repair damaged tissue. Thirty-five years ago, in another paper, Hoffer wrote: "The borderline between vitamin deficiency and vitamin-dependency conditions is merely a quantitative one when one considers prevention and cure." (9)
As there is no recognized cure for Alzheimer's, prevention is vital. In their article, the Irish Times does admit that "Healthy mice fed the vitamins also outperformed mice on a normal diet" and quoted study co-author Frank LaFerla saying that "This suggests that not only is it good for Alzheimer's disease, but if normal people take it, some aspects of their memory might improve." (4) And study author Green added, "If we combine this with other things already out there, we'd probably see a large effect."
The US Alzheimer's Association's Dr. Ralph Nixon has said that previous research has suggested that vitamins such as vitamin E, vitamin C and vitamin B12 may help people lower their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. At their website (although you have to search for it), the Alzheimer's Association says, "Vitamins may be helpful. There is some indication that vitamins, such as vitamin E, or vitamins E and C together, vitamin B12 and folate may be important in lowering your risk of developing Alzheimer's. . . One large federally funded study (10) showed that vitamin E slightly delayed loss of ability to carry out daily activities and placement in residential care."
But overall, at their website http://www.alz.org/index.asp the Alzheimer's Association has strikingly little to say about vitamins, and they hasten to tell people that "No one should use vitamin E to treat Alzheimer's disease except under the supervision of a physician." ( http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10428.asp ) "They write as if these safe vitamins are dangerous drugs, not be used without a doctor's consent," comments Dr. Hoffer. "I have been using them for decades."
Niacin and nerves go together. Orthomolecular physicians have found niacin and other nutrients to be an effective treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, psychotic behavior, and schizophrenia. New research confirms that niacinamide (the same form of B3 used in the Alzheimer's research) "profoundly prevents the degeneration of demyelinated axons and improves the behavioral deficits" in animals with an illness very similar to multiple sclerosis. (11)
A measure of journalistic caution is understandable, especially with ever-new promises for pharmaceutical products. Drugs routinely used to treat Alzheimer's Disease have had a disappointing, even dismal success rate. So when nutrition may be the better answer, foot-dragging is inexplicable, even inexcusable. Nutrients are vastly safer than drugs. Unjustified, needlessly negative opinionating is out of place. Over 5 million Americans now have Alzheimer's disease, and the number is estimated to reach 14 million by 2050. Potentially, 9 million people would benefit later from niacin now.
"Man is a food-dependent creature," wrote University of Alabama professor of medicine Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D.. "If you don't feed him, he will die. If you feed him improperly, part of him will die."
When that part is the brain, it is dangerous to delay the use of optimum nutrition.

References:

(1) Vitamin Holds Promise for Alzheimer's Disease. Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter, Nov 5, 2008.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110502796.html and also http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/vitaminholdspromiseforalzheimersdisease.html

(2) Green KN, Steffan JS, Martinez-Coria H, Sun X, Schreiber SS, Thompson LM, LaFerla FM. Nicotinamide restores cognition in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotau. J Neurosci. 2008 Nov 5;28(45):11500-10.

(3) BBC, 5 Nov 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7710365.stm

(4) Donnellan E. Caution urged over using vitamin B3 to treat Alzheimer's. Wed, Nov 05, 2008. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1105/breaking91.htm

(5) Annual Reports of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poisoning and Exposure Database (formerly known as the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System). AAPCC, 3201 New Mexico Avenue, Ste. 330, Washington, DC 20016. Download any report from1983-2006 at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/NPDS/AnnualReports/tabid/125/Default.aspx free of charge. The "Vitamin" category is usually near the end of the report.

(6) Classen DC, Pestotnik SL, Evans RS, Lloyd JF, Burke JP. Adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. Excess length of stay, extra costs, and attributable mortality. JAMA. 1997 Jan 22-29;277(4):301-6.

(7) 21. Hoffer A and Foster HD. Feel Better, Live Longer With Vitamin B-3: Nutrient Deficiency and Dependency. CCNM Press, 2007. ISBN-10: 1897025246; ISBN-13: 978-1897025246. Also: Foster HD. What Really Causes Alzheimer's Disease. Trafford, 2004. ISBN 1-4120-4921-0.

(8) Heaney RP: Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; Nov; 78(5):912-9.

(9) Hoffer A. Mechanism of action of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide in the treatment of schizophrenia. In: Hawkins D and Pauling L: Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. 1973; p. 202-262.

(10) Sano M, Ernesto C, Thomas RG et al. A controlled trial of selegiline, alpha-tocopherol, or both as treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. N Engl J Med. 1997 Apr 24;336(17):1216-22

(11) Kaneko S, Wang J, Kaneko M, Yiu G, Hurrell JM, Chitnis T, Khoury SJ, He Z. Protecting axonal degeneration by increasing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis models. J Neurosci. 2006 Sep 20;26(38):9794-804. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed See also: Vitamins fight multiple sclerosis. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 4, 2006.

For More Information:

A complete copy of Dr. Harold D. Foster's What Really Causes Alzheimer's Disease is available in PDF format, free of charge: http://www.hdfoster.com/Foster_Alzheimers.pdf

To access a free archive of peer-reviewed medical journal papers on the safety and efficacy of vitamin therapy: http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/

Review of nutritional approaches to Alzheimer's Disease: http://www.doctoryourself.com/alzheimer.html

Additional Reading:

Klenner FR. Response of peripheral and central nerve pathology to mega-doses of the vitamin B-complex and other metabolites. Journal of Applied Nutrition, 1973. http://www.tldp.com/issue/11_00/klenner.htm

Morris MC, Evans DA, Bienias JL, Tangney CC, Bennett DA, Aggarwal N, Wilson RS, and Scherr PA. Dietary intake of antioxidant nutrients and the risk of incident Alzheimer's disease in a biracial community study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2002. 287(24), 3230-3237.

Morris MC, Evans DA, Bienias PA, Scherr A, Tangney CC, Hebert LE, Bennett DA, Wilson RS, and Aggarwal N. Dietary Niacin and the Risk of Incident Alzheimer's Disease and of Cognitive Decline. J Neurology, Psychiatry 2004; 75: 1093-1099.

Bobkova NV. The impact of mineral ascorbates on memory loss. Paper presented at the III World Congress on Vitamin C, 2001, Committee for World Health, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Galeev A, Kazakova A, Zherebker E, Dana E, and Dana R. Mineral ascorbates improve memory and cognitive functions in older individuals with pre-Alzheimer's symptoms. Copy of paper given to authors by R. Dana and E. Dana, Committee for World Health, 20331 Lake Forest Drive, Suite C-15, Lake Forest, California 92630, USA.

Bobkova NV, Nesterova IV, Dana E, Nesterov VI, Aleksandrova IIu, Medvinskaia NI, and Samokhia AN (2003). Morpho-functional changes of neurons in temporal cortex in comparison with spatial memory in bulbectomized mice after treatment with minerals and ascorbates. Morfologiia, 123(3), 27-31. [In Russian]

Engelhart MJ, Geerlings MI, Ruitenberg A, van Swieten JC, Hofman A, and Witteman JC (2002). Dietary intake of antioxidants and risk of Alzheimer's disease: Food for thought. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287(24), 3223-3229.

Grant WB. Dietary links to Alzheimer's disease: 1999 update. Journal of Alzheimer's disease, 1999, 1(4,5), 197-201.

Barberger-Gateau P, Letenneur L, Deschamps V, Pérès K, Jean-François Dartigues JF, and Renaud S (2002). Fish, meat, and risk of dementia: Cohort study. British Medical Journal, 325, 932-933.

Vogiatzoglou A, Refsum H, Johnston C, Smith SM, Bradley KM, de Jager C, Budge MM, Smith AD. Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology. 2008 Sep 9;71(11):826-32.

Read more »

Posted in: 2009,Alzheimer's,health news,lithium,natural health news,natural news,niacin,vitamins,vitamins for Alzheimer's

Niacin Beats Zetia

Once again vitamins top the list for better health.

AHA: Niacin Bests Ezetimibe
Boosting HDL cholesterol with extended-release niacin (Niaspan) is a more effective way of slowing atherosclerosis in high-risk patients on long-term statin therapy than seeking additional LDL cholesterol reductions by adding ezetimibe (Zetia), researchers here reported.Anthony DeMaria, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, noted that "this is a small trial with a small number of cardiovascular events."...


"This trial doesn't quite put the nail in the coffin for ezetimibe, but it pushes it way down on the list of medications for cholesterol-lowering therapy," he said.

Jim Stein, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, had even stronger advice for colleagues:

"Doctors need to stop using so much ezetimibe. Using this drug is not practicing evidence-based medicine. It is taking a path of least resistance -- the easy way out of getting numbers to targets. But we don't treat numbers, we treat patients, and are obligated to use drugs that are proven in clinical trials to reduce things they care about -- heart attacks, strokes, and death -- and to do so safely."...

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE

Primary source: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0907569
AP report
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Originally posted September 2007
If vitamins don't help you why this?

Imagine this: a patent on a common B vitamin known for a very long time to reduce your cholesterol. Health freedom fighters have been warning of vitamin control almost as long as B3 has safely reduced your cholesterol, raised HDL, reduced LDL and those deadly triglycerides.

Merck wants you to shell out big bucks for their new drug under the guise of an added chemical that will "inhibit an often intolerable niacin side effect called flushing".

They don't tell you that there is a form or two of niacin (B3) that does not cause flushing, nor do they tell you that the flushing is an indicator that the benefit of B3 is actually doing something to benefit your health when you experience the flushing.

Niacinamide is one form of niacin that is "flush-free". You do have to take higher amounts of this form and it may take longer to get the desired result.

Inositol hexanicotinate is a second option which promotes liver health and achieves LDL reduction.

You might get either of these starting at $8.00 - $12.00.

And in case you want that tingly niacin, start out with 100 mg. tablets and work up slowly to a higher, more therapeutic dose over time. This is usually what I suggest and it gives your body a better chance to adapt to the changes forthcoming.

Not sure what enormous amount Merck plans to market this new product for but you can bet it won't be inexpensive.   (The cost of 500 mg dosage of Niaspan is $25.97 for 30 capsules.  Note that the chemicals required to allow for extended release have been reported to be problematic, so I'd opt for just plain B3)

Merck niacin drug controls cholesterol

By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer2 hours, 11 minutes ago

An experimental cholesterol treatment touted by drugmaker Merck & Co. significantly reduced artery-clogging fats in late-stage testing, but it got a mixed reception from Wall Street analysts Tuesday.
The drug, called Cordaptive, can both raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. It combines an extended-release form of the B vitamin niacin with a chemical to inhibit an often intolerable niacin side effect called flushing — redness, burning and tingling of the face.
At a European cardiology conference Sunday, Merck for the first time reported results of a major study of Cordaptive. The 24-week study, which included about 1,600 patients, found that compared with dummy pills, Cordaptive produced an 18 percent drop in levels of LDL-C, or "bad" cholesterol; a 26 percent drop in another type of blood fat called triglycerides, and a 20 percent increase in levels of HDL-C, or "good" cholesterol.
Those results were about the same whether or not patients were also taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. Among study patients taking Cordaptive, 29 percent had moderate flushing or worse, versus 56 percent of patients taking just extended-release niacin and 6 percent of those taking a dummy pill.
Analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities said the safety profile for Cordaptive, which is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval, wasn't perfect but is "not problematic."
"I think that the FDA will be predisposed to approve it," Brozak said, given the many people with heart disease or uncontrolled cholesterol, which contributes to hardening of the arteries.
Joseph Tooley, an analyst at A.G. Edwards Pharmaceutical Group, wrote that Cordaptive appears as safe as niacin and that its reduced flushing differentiates it from existing products.
But Cowen and Co. analyst Steve Scala wrote that Cordaptive's safety profile "trended less favorably" than extended-release niacin, with measures of substances in the blood that can indicate potential liver damage, muscle damage and blood-sugar problems a little worse for Cordaptive than the extended-release niacin.
"We think there's no difference between those, especially given the size of the trial," responded Dr. John Paolini, head of the Cordaptive product development team at Merck. "Most importantly, there were no cases of hepatitis" or symptoms of liver damage in the patients.
Any worrisome changes in blood levels of enzymes were temporary and ended when patients stopped taking Cordaptive, he said.
Niacin has been used to control cholesterol for decades, and an extended release version, called Niaspan, has been on sale for years. The flushing problem, however, has prevented many patients from reaching the most effective dose and caused many others to stop taking niacin or Niaspan altogether, Paolini said in a telephone interview from the conference in Vienna.
In a statement Tuesday, Abbott Labs, maker of Niaspan, countered that facial flushing is generally a temporary side effect, which can be easily managed with aspirin.
Cordaptive would beef up Merck's cholesterol franchise, a key area because its statin drug Zocor, which had been Merck's top seller, has seen sales plunge since it got generic competition a year ago. Merck and partner Schering-Plough Corp. jointly market two other cholesterol drugs, Zetia and Vytorin.
Scala forecast $150 million in Cordaptive sales in 2008, with revenue growing to $700 million in 2012. Banc of America Securities analyst Chris Schott predicted $665 million in 2011 sales.
Morgan Stanley analyst Jami Rubin agreed that sales could top $700 million by 2011, but noted that Abbott Labs is developing a concentrated version of its niacin drug.
Merck shares fell 13 cents to $50.04 in trading Tuesday.

See http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/arthritis-drugs-pose-cancer-risk.html

Read more »

Posted in: etezimbe,niacin,niacinamide,prevent plaque build up with vitamins,vitamin B3,Zetia

Supplements Reduce Adverse Effects of Chemo

UPDATE: March 20
"Why do we waste billions in finding a "cure" anyway, not to mention the indescribable animal suffering involved in experiments, when we only have to study the lifestyle and diet in countries with very low cancer rates to find the answers?
The key is to prevent the disease in the first place, especially since we know the causes of many of these cancers now. It is no longer acceptable to keep on with this fiasco, brain washing the public into contributing hard earned cash in the belief there can be a cure for cancer, in order to keep the scientists in work."

"Yes, survival rates are almost untouched."

"The truth is that cancer research is an industry, and its not in their interests to really find a cure."

The truth is that there are known way to cure cancer, but just like the 'pink hoax' you will never hear of it from mainstream doctors.

I just learned some new ways to impact melanoma in the last two weeks, and added to a treatment I already know about, it makes one wonder.

Even pancreatic cancer can be helped.

Any cancer for that matter, if you really want to get help and do the work, and be a survivor without a long list of side effects or risk of relapse on the 5th year and one day.

Billions spent on cancer fail to improve survival rates
-------------------
How many articles have been flooding the airwaves and printing presses telling you just how dangerous it is to use supplements, and how especially dangerous it is to use supplements with chemotherapy?

Probably too many.

And of course those of us countering the flow of erroneous information about supplements face an uphill battle against the belief that MD after a name means that the person is all knowing. I have to ask, all knowing about what.

Perhaps medicine.

Yet medicine is not health care, it is dis-ease care.

Currently India is seen as a place to go to get high quality affordable care. It seems too that they have an open mindedness about just what might be useful for people suffering from the slings and arrows of Tamoxifen.

Just recall that in February 1996, a branch of the United Nation's World Health
Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), declared that the most widely used drug for breast cancer is itself a carcinogen. It may cause uterine cancer and is related to sterility.

Of course you can make an informed decision about treatment but that depends on whether or not you are provided with all the facts.

Supplementation with Coenzyme Q10, Riboflavin, and Niacin May Reduce Adverse Effects of Tamoxifen Therapy

"Effect of Coenzyme Q(10), Riboflavin and Niacin on Tamoxifen treated postmenopausal breast cancer women with special reference to blood chemistry profiles," Yuvaraj S, Premkumar VG, et al, Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2009; 114(2): 377-84. (Address: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Dr ALMP-GIBMS, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
E-mail: Panchanatham Sachdanandam, psachdanandam2000@yahoo.co.in ).

In a study involving 78 postmenopausal women with breast cancer, supplementation with coenzyme Q10, riboflavin, and niacin (CoRN) added to conventional Tamoxifen treatment (a non-steroidal anti-estrogen used for breast carcinomas and chemoprevention in high-risk groups) was found to alleviate the adverse effects of tamoxifen therapy alone on various blood chemistry parameters.

When administered independently, tamoxifen is known to have "estrogenic activity on liver and endometrium causing severe oxidative stress with various biochemical derangements."

When treated solely with tamoxifen, statistically significant alterations were found in: serum total bilirubin, serum glutamyl transpeptide, uric acid, lipoprotein lipase, lecithin, cholesterol acyl transferase, potassium, calcium and Na(+), K(+)-ATPase.

When subjects received supplementation with the antioxidant combination, these levels reverted to near-normal.

The authors conclude, "large scale randomized studies over a longer time span are required to ascertain the safety and efficacy of co-administrating antioxidants with conventional chemotherapy."

The results of this study offer hope that the combination of coenzyme Q10, riboflavin, and niacin may offset several adverse effects of tamoxifen therapy.

Read more »

Posted in: 2009,antioxidants,breast cancer,CARCINOMA,CHEMOTHERAPY - Tamoxifen,Coenzyme Q10,CoQ10,natural health news,niacin,Riboflavin

And Now for the Rest of the Story

Just this past Sunday (9 November, 2008) I posted this article on Natural Health News: Boosting Drug Sales with Studies.

I added one follow-up article earlier today, and now I am happy to give you something to think about in terms of why sound nutrition is a better option than wholesale use of drugs. Supplements certainly do edge out the pharmaceuticals in this study.

You'll also see how it is totally possible to fool a lot of the people a lot of the time -

Why treat nutritional deficiency with drugs?
(OMNS, November 13, 2008) A recent study suggested that statins might be used to avoid the effects of nutritional deficiency. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Jupiter group described a study of statin drugs in people with high C-reactive protein and low cholesterol. (1) High C-reactive protein levels are associated with inflammation and heart disease/stroke. The authors concluded that, in apparently healthy persons with elevated C-reactive protein levels, rosuvastatin (Crestor) significantly reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events.

Their much-publicized claim, that this statin lowers the risk of heart attack by approximately one half, is technically correct though highly misleading. The reported annual incidence of coronary events was 37 people in 10,000 (controls) and 17 people in 10,000 (treated). Similar results were reported for risk of stroke. When expressed as a proportion, a 46% improvement (17/37) sounds large. However, an improvement of 20 events (37-17) in 10,000 people known to be at risk is less impressive. Such an improvement means that 500 people (10,000/20) with this increased risk would need to take the tablet daily for a year, to prevent one person suffering an event.

The paper does not explicitly report deaths. One reason for this may be that if a person on statins suffered a heart attack, that person was about three times more likely to die than a control who was not on statins.

The cost of rosuvastatin per person is approximately $1000 per year. So, treating enough people to prevent one heart attack costs $500,000 per year. Since about 70% of the heart attacks were not fatal, prevention of a single death from heart attack would cost even more, approximately $1,700,000. Giving the benefit of the doubt, we may allow for a similar reduction in stroke and say that "only" $250,000 is needed to protect one person from a stroke or heart attack. It is hardly surprising that Astra Zeneca's share price increased by $1.3 billion dollars on release of this paper and the corresponding media hype. (2)

The media suggested millions of healthy people could cut their risk of heart disease by taking statins. (3) They also claimed that statins could cut the risk of heart attack for "everyone". (4) This is inaccurate and incorrect. The study did not include normal healthy people, only a sample of a relatively small number of people, suffering from inflammation (increased C-reactive protein) - a known cause of heart disease and stroke. Out of 89,890 people considered for inclusion, 17,802 people (19.8%) met the specific criteria of poor health for the study. Widespread prescription of statins to healthy people is not supported by these findings.

The fact that statins produce a modest improvement is unsurprising, since they are known to lower inflammation, as do many nutritional supplements. It has pointed out that Crestor lowered C-reactive protein by 37%, but vitamin E lowers it (C Reactive Protein) by 32%, (5) and vitamin C by 25.3%. (6,7) These effects are similar to those of statins and would be expected to provide comparable benefits, without side effects and at a lower cost.

Crestor and other statin drugs have serious side effects. The incidence of established side-effects, such as rhabdomyolysis (0.3 per 10,000 per year), myopathy (1.1 per 10,000) and peripheral neuropathy (1.2 per 10,000 per year) seems low, (8) but may be underestimated as it takes time to establish long-term side-effects. (The depletion of coenzyme Q10 by statins is a particular concern.) The figures imply that for every ten people who avoid a cardiovascular event, at least one previously healthy person will suffer a non-trivial side effect of the statin drug.

The doctors reported a statistically significant increase (270) in diabetes in the statin group compared to the placebo group (216). Over the course of the study, this corresponds to an increased risk of approximately 61 in 10,000 people. So, the number of people on statins reported to become diabetic was greater than the number that avoided a heart attack! These people might have shorter lives and be at greater risk of heart disease in the long term.

Notably, the Jupiter study was stopped early, which the authors admit prevents assessment of how side-effects might outweigh reported benefits in the longer term. The study was to last 3-5 years and the criteria for stopping were not included in the original published design. (9) The paper claims that when the study was stopped "these [diabetic] events were not adjudicated by the end-point committee". The committee either knew about the diabetes in which case it was considered, or it did not and the committee was not doing its job properly.

The Jupiter name stands for Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin; the reader might think this "justification" sounds more like a marketing plan than a scientific endeavor. The researchers did not address the underlying cause of the inflammation and increased C-reactive protein: they simply treated the condition with drugs. In many cases, raised C-reactive protein is a result of nutritional deficiency. (10)

It is worth mentioning that several nutritional supplements inhibit inflammation and lower C-reactive protein, without causing known side effects. Deficiency in vitamins A, (11) B6, C, E, A, folate, carotenoids and lycopene, (12) and selenium (for example) is associated with raised C-reactive protein. (13,14,15) We suggest that the $250,000 cost of preventing a single cardiovascular event with rosuvastatin might be better spent funding a study of such inexpensive alternatives the deficiency of which may be the cause of the problem.

The people at risk could be encouraged to supplement their diet and restore their health without using these expensive drugs to conceal their underlying sickness.

Stick with the supplements!

References:

(1) Ridker P.M. Danielson E. Fonseca F.A.H. Genest J. Gotto A.M. Kastelein J.J.P. Koenig W. Libby P. Lorenzatti A.J. MacFadyen J.G. Nordestgaard B.G. Shepherd J. Willerson J.T. Glynn R.J. for the JUPITER Study Group (2008) Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein, NEJM, 359(21), 2195-2207.

(2) Mail Online (2008) Crestor news helps AstraZeneca market value leap by more than £1.3bn, 9:25 PM, 10th Nov.

(3) Smith R. (2008) Millions could cut heart attack risk by taking statins, study finds, telegraph.co.uk, 7:55AM GMT, 10 Nov.

(4) Hope J. (2008) The new statin drug that cuts the risk of heart attacks and strokes for EVERYONE, Daily Mail, 11th Nov.

(5) Devaraj S. Tang R. Adams-Huet B. Harris A. Seenivasan T. de Lemos J.A. Jialal I. (2007) Effect of high-dose alpha-tocopherol supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease, Am J Clin Nutr, 86(5), 1392-1398.

(6) Block G. Jensen C.D. Dalvi T.B. Norkus E.P. Hudes M. Crawford P.B. Holland N. Fung E.B. Schumacher L. Harmatz P. (2008) Vitamin C treatment reduces elevated C-reactive protein, Free Radic Biol Med, Oct 10. [Epub]

(7) Sardi B. (2008) The Headline You Should Be Reading: Statin Drugs Don't Save Lives And May Increase Your Risk For Diabetes, Knowledge of Health Report, Nov 11.

(8) Law M. Rudnicka A.R. Statin Safety: A Systematic Review, The American Journal of Cardiology, 97(8), Suppl 1, S52-S60.

(9) Ridker P.M. JUPITER Study Group (2003) Rosuvastatin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among patients with low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: rationale and design of the JUPITER trial, Circulation, 108(19), 2292-2297.

(10) Ford E.S. Liu S. Mannino D.M. Giles W.H. Smith S.J. (2003) C-reactive protein concentration and concentrations of blood vitamins, carotenoids, and selenium among United States adults, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 57, 1157-1163.

(11) Root M.M. Hu J. Stephenson L.S. Parker R.S. Campbell T.C. (1999) Determinants of plasma retinol concentrations of middle-aged women in rural China. Nutrition 15, 101-107.

(12) Boosalis M.G. Snowdon D.A. Tully C.L. Gross M.D. (1996): Acute phase response and plasma carotenoid concentrations in older women: findings from the nun study, Nutrition, 12, 475-478.

(13) Friso S. Jacques P.F. Wilson P.W. Rosenberg I.H. Selhub J.(2001) Low circulating vitamin B(6) is associated with elevation of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein independently of plasma homocysteine levels, Circulation, 103(23), 2788-2791.

(14) Devaraja S. Jialal I. (2000) Alpha tocopherol supplementation decreases serum C-reactive protein and monocyte interleukin-6 levels in normal volunteers and type 2 diabetic patients, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 29(8), 790-792.

(15) Upritchard J.E. Sutherland W.H. Mann J.I. (2000): Effect of supplementation with tomato juice, vitamin E, and vitamin C on LDL oxidation and products of inflammatory activity in type 2 diabetes, Diabetes Care, 23, 733-738.

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

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Posted in: cholesterol,Crestor,health news,natural health news,natural news,niacin,nutrition,supplements,vitamin C,vitamin E