Originally Posted by
phoebeisis
Don
Zetia isn't a statin.
You didn't say it was-but you mention statins in the sentences following the negative Zetia info.
The study indicated that a timed release Niacin-much cheaper- worked MUCH better
It didn't EXACTLY show that Zetia didn't work at all-
To do that it would need to be paired with a placebo-but it did seem to show it "wasn't great" and maybe was worthless.
My suspicion is Zetia got a foothold because of so many folks having side effects from statins-
doc will say "well take a lower dose of the statin-and I'll add ZETIA"
You I would be willing to bet that it was originally pushed-by drug reps-as a lower side effect anti cholesterol medication.
Niacin works-and should be dirt cheap-even time released it should be dirt cheap-does have some problems of course
itching+ the liver problems-significant-but you can certainly lower the dose-should be able to find a safe dose of niacin.
I started on lipitor after my wife's MI-trying to figure which drug causing fatigue-she takes 10 or so-it certainly makes me feel "odd" in the morning after taking a small-10mg-dose in the evening-but the studies on it-are convincing-and I'm old 62-HBP-35 lbs overweight-certainly no free lunch-
might give immediate release niacin a try-lowish dose-
My memory is that the timed release niacin caused liver damage
I am aware Zetia is not a statin. The point I was taking trying to make was that the drug lowers cholesterol numbers but the pharmaceutical company is forced to concede that it does not lower heart attack risk. Lowering cholesterol numbers through drugs seems pointless. Statins have such profound multiple effects that I find the claim plausible that they to may happen to have some anti-inflammatory effect that reduces the risk of second heart attck for some. But the bad side effects of statins make it criminal, IMHO, how widely they are pushed.
The public would be much better off examining why their cholesterol
#s are what they are and addressing that through lifestyle changes -- taking high LDL and low HDL not as a direct cause of heart disease, but as an indicator. CRP, triglyceride levels, VLDL, HbA1c should be looked at. The automatic flagging of total cholesterol numbers is ignorant.