Niacin can cause serious side effects in heart-risk patients

The vitamin niacin can cause significant side effects and offers no benefits for patients at high risk of heart disease who are taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Oxford University scientists presented results of the largest randomised clinical trial of niacin at the American College of Cardiology conference in San Francisco on Saturday. The HPS2-THRIVE study found that adding extended release (ER) niacin to statin treatment made no difference to the chances of high-risk patients having a heart attack or stroke. In addition, the researchers reported that niacin caused a significant number of different types of serious side effect. Some of the side effects of niacin were already known, but some of them were unexpected. 'The use of niacin for the prevention of cardiovascular events should now be reconsidered,' said principal investigator Jane Armitage from Oxford University's Clinical Trial Service Unit. 'The HPS2-THRIVE trial shows that niacin causes significant hazards and does not reduce the number of people suffering heart attacks and strokes when added to treatments, such as cholesterol-lowering statin therapy, which are known to be safe and effective.