rooster wrote:DreamStalker wrote:.......
There are two types of B3 ... need to make sure it is niacin (nicotinic acid) form, 500 mg just before bedtime. It may cause flushing/hot flashes (has not for me though) ... however only very temporary if it does.
I need to take it in the morning because I cannot stand to put the mask on my face when it is tingling.
As far as the flushing goes, I kind of like it. I get asked, "Have you been out on your yacht?" and I answer, "Every chance I get."
DS, Are you taking otc niacin or prescription? Does the doc do a liver function check regularly? How often?
I read this thread only just now; read through almost all the postings. Some of what I am saying is already touched upon before, I am summarizing; plus
adding some additional important info and references; I am changing the subject line just for this post.
1. There are two forms of Vit B3, Niacin (Nicatonic acid) or Niacinamide. Either form will satisfy the needs of the vitamin. Niacin is converted to niacinamide internally along the normal bodily processing flow of the chemical. For vitamin use the quantities are very small 100mg per day. The over the counter (otc) form is almost always Niacin. If you ask a pharmacist for Niacinamide, you might be erroneously given Niacin (since both are Vit B3)!!
2. For HDL (good cholesterol) increase, and LDL decrease, only Niacin works, the Niacinamide form does not do this!! This is not at all obvious.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagere ... ageindex=1
As the above article shows, sometimes even some doctors are not aware of this.
3. The quantities needed for cholesterol change is much higher, 500 to 1000+ mg per day. At that qty, Niacin is no longer a vitamin, but it is a very potent drug with potential for very serious liver damage in some patients. Some other side effects such as flushing may be only an inconvenience. There is a prescription form of Sustained Release, called Niaspan. Either Niacin or Niaspan can cause all the potential side effects. One need to be testing/monitoring for liver toxicity after about one month and about 6 months, and then at regular intervals of 12 months or so; that would be the guidelines from a well trained endocrinologist.
4.There is also a slow release version of NON-PRESCRIPTION (otc) niacin. The potential for liver toxicity appears to be much higher from the otc slow release form than the regular OTC niacin (!!) or the prescription Niaspan. When the regular (non Sustained Release) niacin is used for cholesterol reduction, it is taken spread over the day in 3 or 4 doses. But the other forms can be in one dose. Both regular Niacin and the extended Niaspan has the same effectiveness in cholesterol reduction; Niaspan is quite a bit more expensive since it is a new Brand Name drug without a generic, but the Niaspan is more convenient to use because of its single dose, and for many it reduces flushing. But for some people even Niaspan could produce serious flushing with trips to emergency rooms (Googling will get discussions about this.)
5. Another not so well know side effect of Niacin or Niacinamide is that it tends to increase your blood sugar level. If you are diabetic or borderline d., need to check this carefully.
Now about the recent study about Niacinamide for memory loss / Alziermer's reversal, that Raj mentioned:
Raj wrote:Research on rodents with a specific form of B3 (nicotinamide) has been so promising for reducing the effects of Alzheimer's that human trials are already getting started. Lots of reports on this such as this one:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/128297.php. But one thing this article didn't mention is that nicotinamide seemed to increase memory function in normal rats. Alas, I don't think plain old niacin has this trick up its sleeve.
M1. The references in many of the articles was most often to Niacinamide (but the popular ones talked about Vit B3); it was not clear whether Niacin (nicotonic acid) would have this effect on memory. It was considered a possible break through, there was a NPR talkshow with the researchers:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=96747179
You can listen to the entire show.
M2. They are looking for human study volunteers. The study is being done at Univ of California, Irvine. At the initial phase, they may take only people locally. If anybody is interested, try and kindly report anything they find out about the study here.
M3. The toxicity effect on the body is cumulative of Niacin and Niacinamide one takes. Assuming the memory effect is only from taking Niacinamide, and if you are already taking Niacin, you need to keep that in mind.
If anybody has any additional info on the second topic of effect of memory and the related research, kindly post here.
