Heart Wellness
One of the many benefits of niacin treatment is lowered blood fats and hypertension. When these conditions are left untreated, they will eventually lead to heart failure in most people. The next battle front in the fight against heart disease is raising HDL-C, the "good" cholesterol, thereby lowering blood fats.
Studies show that 2 out of 3 patients develop a myocardial infarction (MI) while on a statin therapy. More attention should be devoted to raising low HDL-C to provide protection against MI, since patients on statin therapy can develop a false sense of overall health.
Statins, a class of drugs that lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood, do provide some important advantages in lipid therapy. However, they often do not increase HDL-C to any substantial degree when it is crucially low, nor do they alter the LDL-C, the "bad" cholesterol, from a small, dense LDL-C to a larger, less dangerous particle size.
Therefore, the false sense of good health while on statins causes problems on two fronts:
- First, low HDL-C and normal LDL-C levels with a small particle size, LDL-C Pattern Type B, can still cause MI in 50% of patients, despite low to normal HDL-C levels.
- Secondly, low HDL-C and normal LDL-C levels can still cause cardiovascular problems due a poor Reverse Cholesterol Transport (RCT) functional effect.
Cholesterol is normally distributed to all cells since it is involved in the formation of various important components of the cell structure, including the formation hormones. HDL-C is responsible for the process of redistributing cholesterol, as well as removing the unused and unnecessary cholesterol from the various parts of the body back to the liver.
Approximately 50% of HDL-C is involved in RCT, while the other portion is involved in reducing effects of triglycerides, reducing inflammation or thrombosis, and influencing cellular cardiac and vascular remodeling. HDL-C's functions are for more than just RCT. It is an anti-oxidant, anti-infammatory and anti-coagulant.
Niacin is a common drug choice to raise HDL-C, and the benefits of niacin have been proven through numerous studies. Dr. Tawakol's Nicosprin® has an advantage over all other Niacin products in that it does not increase inflammation. Nicosprin® reduces glucose levels, while other treatments increase it slightly. Proper diabetes and metabolic syndrome treatment plans should effectively monitor and improve glucose levels while allowing minimal inflammation.
To experience the benefits of niacin without the side effects, call to learn more about Dr. Tawakol's Nicosprin®, available as part of the Heart Wellness program at the Heart Health and Wellness Center.
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