Does adding this vitamin help heart patients on statins?
Effects of extended-release niacin with laropiprant in high-risk patients.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Lowering LDL and raising HDL did not translate into fewer heart attacks or strokes.
For decades, doctors believed improving these cholesterol numbers would prevent events. This study shows that in statin-treated patients, manipulating HDL/LDL with niacin doesn’t move the needle on actual outcomes.
Practical Takeaways
If you're on statins, don't start taking over-the-counter niacin supplements without talking to your doctor—this study shows they may do more harm than good.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Lowering LDL and raising HDL did not translate into fewer heart attacks or strokes.
For decades, doctors believed improving these cholesterol numbers would prevent events. This study shows that in statin-treated patients, manipulating HDL/LDL with niacin doesn’t move the needle on actual outcomes.
Practical Takeaways
If you're on statins, don't start taking over-the-counter niacin supplements without talking to your doctor—this study shows they may do more harm than good.
Publication
Journal
The New England journal of medicine
Year
2014
Authors
M. Landray, R. Haynes, J. Hopewell, S. Parish, Theingi Aung, J. Tomson, K. Wallendszus, M. Craig, Lixin Jiang, R. Collins, J. Armitage
Related Content
Claims (5)
For people with heart disease already taking statins, adding this combo of niacin and laropiprant slightly raises the chance of nasty side effects like stomach problems, muscle pain, rashes, infections, and bleeding — about 1 extra case of infection for every 100 people over 4 years.
Even though adding a specific niacin pill to statins lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol in people with heart disease, it doesn’t actually help prevent heart attacks, strokes, or the need for heart procedures—so it’s not worth the extra pills.
If you already have heart disease and are taking a statin to lower cholesterol, adding this special niacin pill with another drug called laropiprant might make your blood sugar harder to control and could even cause you to develop diabetes — about 4 more people out of 100 will have serious blood sugar problems, and 1 more out of 100 will get diagnosed with diabetes over a few years.
For people with heart disease who are already taking statins, taking a special slow-release niacin pill plus another pill called laropiprant for about 4 years can slightly lower their bad cholesterol by 10 points and raise their good cholesterol by 6 points.
Taking a special combo pill (niacin + laropiprant) along with your statin for heart disease might make your cholesterol numbers look better, but it also causes more dangerous side effects — so overall, it does more harm than good.