Should Niacin Still Be Prescribed? William Boden Versus Harlan Krumholz

In the wake of HPS2-THRIVE many have argued that there is no longer any reason to prescribe niacin. William Boden, the lead investigator of AIM-HIGH and COURAGE, thinks there were enough flaws in the design of the niacin trials to justify the cautious use of niacin in certain circumstances. Says Boden: “There is evidence of clinical outcome improvement (i.e., CHD death/MI reduction) from VA-HIT for gemfibrozil; there is similar clinical outcome improvement for niacin from the Coronary Drug Project. Numerous studies show niacin’s benefit on surrogate outcome measures (i.e., quantitative coronary angiography, IVUS, cIMT, etc.). More…
Source: CardioBrief - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes AIM-HIGH Boden cholesterol HDL Heart Protection Study High-density lipoprotein HPS2-THRIVE LDL niacin Source Type: blogs