[I first read about niacin's effect on cholesterol in the "8-Week Cholesterol Cure." Can't remember when, about ten years ago, I think. Now here's a drug company marketing a time-release version, no doubt at a nice price. The same cholesterol-lowering effect can be gained by taking generic niacin, diabetic or not. The only thing you have to watch out for is the niacin "flush," a warm, red flush like a hot flash, which can occur insome people shortly after ingestion. It's a small price to pay, thogugh, providing niacin is no risk to the liver, as anti-choletserol drugs usually are. Besides, there is a version ofniacin which negates the hot flash effect.]

Niacin Drug Cuts Blood Fat in Diabetics Mon Jul 22, 5:35 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A niacin drug appears to reduce the amount of fatty particles in the blood of people with type 2 diabetes, lessening their chances of developing heart disease, researchers reported on Sunday.

The study was sponsored by the manufacturer of the drug, Florida-based Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company said it has asked for regulatory approval to expand the recommended uses for the drug, which it markets as Niaspan.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body loses its ability to respond to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Obesity increases a person's risk of developing diabetes, which is associated with heart disease and a number of other health problems.

Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, report on a study of 146 diabetes patients who were given either the extended-release niacin drug at two levels of strength or a placebo.

Their aim was to test the effects of niacin on a condition called dyslipidemia. People with this condition have high concentrations of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol--or "bad" cholesterol--and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or "good" cholesterol.

The authors said the condition contributes to an additional two- to four-fold increased risk of coronary heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes.

The study found that "good" cholesterol increased between 13% and 24% depending on the strength of dose, that triglyceride was also reduced at high dose levels and that "bad" cholesterol levels fell.

"As more is known about the nature of diabetic dyslipidemia and its impact on (heart disease) risk in patients with diabetes, optimal therapy should target all the abnormalities associated with diabetes," the report said.

"This targeted approach may represent the best treatment strategy for achieving substantial reductions in the high and growing incidence of (heart disease) among patients with diabetes."

The authors said extended-release niacin may be considered for use with statins--widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs--or "in some cases, without statins."

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2002