In a perfect world, we’d like to think that drug companies are working in our best interest, but don’t get the pioneering good intentions of scientists and researchers mixed up with the greed (and oftentimes, deceit) of big business-minded pharmaceutical companies. If we find cheaper, easily accessible alternatives to their expensive medications, they lose money. It’s not a profitable move to advertise what’s helpful for the greater good of the public, and so they don’t want you to know about this inexpensive method of high cholesterol treatment.
High cholesterol is a health concern that can jumpstart a host of other issues that eventually leads to medical problems, such as cardiovascular disease. In the worst cases, a patient can die from the symptoms that high cholesterol levels can cause. The medication on the market prescribed to patients as high cholesterol treatments is expensive. Also, if you don’t see a doctor, then you won’t get your hands on that costly prescription anyways. New research has been shedding light on a safe, cheap alternative treatment that winds up costing just seven cents per pill.
Also known as niacin or nicotinic acid, the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is reporting that little ol’ Vitamin B3 could become the cheapest way for a patient to control his or her high cholesterol. One study identified niacin as a booster for HDL (better known as the good kind of cholesterol). An increase of up to 35% was found. The amount of triglycerides was also decreased by 50%.
The study tracked more than 8,000 participants ”“ all of whom had experienced a previous heart attack. Researchers followed their medical ups and downs for 15 years. The patients who were given a niacin treatment revealed a lowered risk for having a second heart attack or stroke by 26% as compared to those on a placebo.
Information like this is not likely to meet the ears and eyes of the greater public. Why? Because drug companies do not want patients to know that there are cheaper ways to lower their cholesterol without paying a grand dollar amount. They’ll hide life-saving information from the public just to keep their pockets lined with money. However, this information would really help out people who are unable to take drugs called statins, which are a class of drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol levels that prevents the activity of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. It is this enzyme that is responsible for producing cholesterol in the liver.
Niacin is recommended for patients who experience intense side effects from statins, who have complex lipid issues (such as low HDL and high triglyceride levels), who do not respond to statins at all, or possess high levels of lipoprotein (which doesn’t respond to statins either). Niacin can help reduce the lipoproteins responsible for tripling the risk of having a heart attack by 40 percent.
While not many side effects are reported with those who take niacin, one of the most bothersome is what is known as the ‘niacin flush.’ Some people who have taken Vitamin B may develop itchy skin with a tingly sensation that lasts from 30 to 60 minutes. This side effect does not pose a threat and will fade with time. Niacins have been placed in a negative light in the past, which has made it easy for many to overlook its health benefits related to lowering high cholesterol, but it is indeed, an effective and safe alternative treatment to the more expensive drugs pumped out by the pharmaceutical companies.