Low-density lipoprotein, also known as LDL or "bad" cholesterol, can clog your arteries and increase your risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Changes in your diet and levels of physical activity can improve your LDL cholesterol levels, but sometimes these potentially dangerous lipids prove resistant. Doctors may prescribe medications, including niacin, to help bring your LDL cholesterol down to heart-friendly levels.
LDL Cholesterol
Healthy LDL cholesterol measures 130 mg/dL -- milligrams per deciliter of blood -- or less. If more than one risk factor for heart disease applies to you, aim to keep your LDL levels to 100 mg/dL or less. Risk factors include previous heart attacks, family history of heart disease, medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and lifestyle choices such as smoking or drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol. According to MayoClinic.com, LDL cholesterol levels that measure more than 160 mg/dL put you at high risk for heart attacks and strokes, and levels that top 190 mg/dL put you at very high risk.
Niacin and Cholesterol
Niacin -- vitamin B 3 -- proves effective for lowering LDL cholesterol, but doctors more often prescribe niacin to treat two other types of lipids in your system: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol -- HDL or "good" cholesterol -- and triglycerides, a type of fat that acts similarly to LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream. Niacin can both lower LDL and triglycerides and elevate your heart-healthy HDL cholesterol levels. You can purchase niacin without a prescription. Over-the-counter formulas of niacin come in strengths of up to 500 mg. Doctors may prescribe niacin in strengths of 500 mg to 2,000 mg or more.
Risks
It could prove unhealthy to self-medicate with niacin. Niacin taken in doses of 100 mg or more poses serious side effects, including stomach ulcers and liver damage. Large doses of niacin may also cause skin flushes, a condition that makes your face and chest turn red, burn and tingle. Over-the-counter varieties of niacin promoted as no-flush niacin may prevent flushing but fail to improve your LDL levels. If you take niacin and experience flushing, a doctor can help you gradually increase your dose or may prescribe a timed-release formula of niacin that delivers the vitamin to your bloodstream in small, spaced-out doses. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, timed-release formulas of niacin increase your risk for liver damage.
Government Study
The National Institutes of Health ended a large-scale niacin study 18 months prematurely, in May 2011, because of disappointing results. About half of the study's 3,414 participants took statins, a drug commonly prescribed to treat LDL, and the other participants took both statins and 2,000 mg of niacin daily. Participants who took the combination therapy tested better for HDL and triglyceride levels and about the same for LDL cholesterol. But persons who took niacin and statins suffered as many heart attacks -- and more than twice as many strokes -- as participants who took only statins.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B 3 (Niacin); June 18, 2009
- MedlinePlus: Niacin and Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol: Tests and Diagnosisl; June 24, 2010
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol: Treatment and Drugs; June 1, 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
