Policosanol anyone?

[nospam]

Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?

[Oliver Costich]

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:46:57 GMT, nospam <bistoury@earthlink.net>
wrote:

>Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?


It did nothing for me, taking 10mg/day of policosanol from suger cane
wax (which is the only form for which there is any real research).

[Patrick Blanchard, M.D.]

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:46:57 GMT, nospam <bistoury@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?
>
>

I am. 20 mg daily, in addition to red yeast rice, niacin, fish oil, and
guggulipid.

http://tinyurl.com/xepg

--
~~~
Patrick Blanchard, M.D., A.B.F.P.
Board Certified in Family Practice
http://www.familydoctor.org/blanchard
~~~
SonoScore
Winning against heart attack and stroke
http://www.sonoscore.com

[Matti Narkia]

Tue, 02 Dec 2003 13:27:42 -0600 in article
<oprzki0glzx9pqj2@news-60.giganews.com> "Patrick Blanchard, M.D."
<blanchard@sonoscore_nospam.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:46:57 GMT, nospam <bistoury@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?
>
>I am. 20 mg daily, in addition to red yeast rice, niacin, fish oil, and
>guggulipid.
>
Policosanol has some documented efficacy (although almost all of the
research has been done in Cuba, so do red yeast rice (
http://tinyurl.com/xfnv ) (one of its active ingredients is
naturally-occurring statin lovastatin), niacin and fish oil, but
guggulipid recently failed in a randomized controlled clinical trial:

Szapary PO, Wolfe ML, Bloedon LT, Cucchiara AJ, DerMarderosian AH,
Cirigliano MD, Rader DJ.
Guggulipid for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia: a randomized
controlled trial.
JAMA. 2003 Aug 13;290(6):765-72.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12915429&dopt=Abstract>
( http://tinyurl.com/xfp8 )

[Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD]

"Patrick Blanchard, M.D." wrote:

> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:46:57 GMT, nospam <bistoury@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?
> >
> >
>
> I am. 20 mg daily, in addition to red yeast rice, niacin, fish oil, and
> guggulipid.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/xepg
>
> --
> ~~~
> Patrick Blanchard, M.D., A.B.F.P.
> Board Certified in Family Practice
> http://www.familydoctor.org/blanchard

Welcome back, Patrick. Missed our discussions :-)

Out of curiosity, what was your fasting lipid profile *before* that
combination that you are currently taking?

And why not lovastatin instead of red yeast rice?


Humbly,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
http://www.heartmdphd.com

[Patrick Blanchard, M.D.]

http://tinyurl.com/xjcvOn Wed, 03 Dec 2003 00:23:54 +0200, Matti Narkia
<mnng@despammed.com> wrote:

> Tue, 02 Dec 2003 13:27:42 -0600 in article
> <oprzki0glzx9pqj2@news-60.giganews.com> "Patrick Blanchard, M.D."
> <blanchard@sonoscore_nospam.com> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 01:46:57 GMT, nospam <bistoury@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Is anyone here using Policosanol to control their Tris and Cholesterol?
>>
>> I am. 20 mg daily, in addition to red yeast rice, niacin, fish oil, and
>> guggulipid.
>>
> Policosanol has some documented efficacy (although almost all of the
> research has been done in Cuba, so do red yeast rice (
> http://tinyurl.com/xfnv ) (one of its active ingredients is
> naturally-occurring statin lovastatin), niacin and fish oil, but
> guggulipid recently failed in a randomized controlled clinical trial:
>
> Szapary PO, Wolfe ML, Bloedon LT, Cucchiara AJ, DerMarderosian AH,
> Cirigliano MD, Rader DJ. Guggulipid for the treatment of
> hypercholesterolemia: a randomized
> controlled trial.
> JAMA. 2003 Aug 13;290(6):765-72.
> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12915429&dopt=Abstract>
>
>
> ( http://tinyurl.com/xfp8 )
>
>
This is an interesting study, but 2 things concern me about it:

1. participants were following a westernized diet, which by itself
introduces a lot of noise into the data.
2. LDL-C was the outcome, not LDL subclasses.

However, a more controlled group can be found here that also supports your
study about the washout of LDL-C.

http://tinyurl.com/xjcv

Other benefits of guggul appear to be antioxidation. guggul also believed
to inhibit platelet aggregation.

It's safety of use beyond 6 months is not clear.

Its use, however, should be adjunctive, or with other measures to achive
treatment goals.

--
~~~
Patrick Blanchard, M.D., A.B.F.P.
Board Certified in Family Practice
http://www.familydoctor.org/blanchard
~~~
SonoScore
Winning against heart attack and stroke
http://www.sonoscore.com