Diabetes affects your body's ability to control glucose levels in your bloodstream. Diabetes also puts you at a greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Persons with diabetes prove twice as likely to die from heart attacks and strokes as persons without the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association. Niacin can help improve your cholesterol, fat-like deposits in your bloodstream that put you at risk for heart problems. However, it may also cause elevations in your blood glucose levels.
Niacin and Diabetes
You can purchase niacin -- vitamin B-3 -- without a prescription. If you have type 2 diabetes, take niacin only with a doctor's supervision and closely monitor the effect of the vitamin on your blood glucose levels. Niacin can cause hyperglycemia, the medical term for high blood sugar. If you have type 1 diabetes, niacinamide may delay your need to take insulin. Niacinamide is a different form of niacin. Persons with type 1 diabetes do not make enough insulin -- their bodies attack the cells that make insulin. Persons with type 2 diabetes may make insufficient amounts of insulin or may not use insulin efficiently.
Niacin and Cholesterol
Niacin, often prescribed to treat cholesterol, may improve the levels of three types of lipids in your bloodstream: low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides. It proves especially beneficial in elevating HDL, the "good" cholesterol that pulls LDL cholesterol and triglycerides out of your bloodstream. Niacin poses health risks for all users, not just persons with diabetes. In addition to elevating blood glucose levels, niacin taken in high doses may cause liver damage. Slow-release or timed-release formulas of niacin increase this risk.
Government Study
The relationship between niacin, cholesterol and heart disease remains unclear. A large multi-year study led by the National Institutes of Health ended 18 months early, in May 2011, because of disappointing results. About half of the study's 3,414 participants took statins, a cholesterol drug commonly used to treat LDL cholesterol. The others took statins plus 2,000 mg of timed-release niacin daily. The niacin helped as expected -- persons who took the combination therapy experienced greater improvements in the HDL cholesterol levels than persons who took only statins. But the improvement did not correspond with greater protection against heart disease. Persons who took niacin suffered as many heart attacks -- and twice as many strokes -- as participants who did not take niacin.
Considerations
Diet and exercise may help you improve your cholesterol levels and diabetes health. A well-balanced diabetes diet can help you better manage your blood sugar levels and this, in turn, can help improve HDL. A low-fat, low-sugar diet can also help you lower your triglycerides, and exercise can improve both HDL and triglyceride levels. If you cannot sufficiently improve your cholesterol levels with diet and lifestyle changes, discuss possible medications, including niacin, with your physician. However, it could prove dangerous to self-medicate with over-the-counter niacin.
References
- "Diabetes Forecast"; How Do I Raise My HDL Cholesterol? Robert Gabbay, M. D.; September 2009
- American Diabetes Association; Living With Diabetes: Heart Disease
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B 3 (Niacin); Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD; June 18, 2009
- MedlinePlus; Niacin and Niacinamide (Vitamin B3); Feb. 9, 2011
- CBC News; Niacin Trial For Heart Disease Stopped Early; May 27, 2011
- National Institutes of Health: NIH Halts Clinical Trial on Combination Cholesterol Treatment; May 26, 2011
