Cholesterol Control Without Diet!: The Niacin Solution

"In a new book, William B. Parsons Jr., MD tells why niacin, a drug whose use for cholesterol control he pioneered more than 40 years ago, is really a "designer drug" for this purpose. Niacin, unlike other drugs in this field, does everything right. It reduces bad cholesterol, increases good cholesterol, lowers triglycerides, and has favorable effects on several recently discovered components of blood cholesterol. No other drug does all these things, or even the first two. Best of all, niacin does all this in the presence of an ordinary American diet. Dr. Parsons calls his book, CHOLESTEROL CONTROL WITHOUT DIET! THE NIACIN SOLUTION, a wake-up call to the public and the media. When most people hear "choelsterol," they think "diet" because advocates of diet have brainwashed the media, which in turn has brainwashed the public, including the medical profession, he contends. This book shares the author's long experience in research and use of niacin in medical practice. "Although available without prescription, niacin is not a do-it-yourself drug; it requires knowledgeable medical supervision," the book repeatedly emphasizes. Parsons says that if every doctor were good at using niacin, more than 90% of patients with cholesterol problems could have the drug's distinctive advantages at a cost one-sixth to one-tenth the cost of the expensive "statins," the best-selling cholesterol control drugs. Dr. Parsons has studied niacin since 1955, his final year of internal medicine training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Following up on preliminary findings of Canadian doctors, he conducted the firstg systematic study of niacin's effects, which showed that it lowered bad cholesterol and raised good cholesterol without diet. His later work in Madison, Wisconsin led to the Coronary Drug Project, an 8-year study which showed that niacin decreased heart attacks, strokes, cardiovascular surgery, and deaths in men who had already had heart attacks. He advocatess starting prevention of heart attacks by using niacin in young adults as well as middle-aged persons with abnormal cholesterol patterns, then continuing in elderly patients who have no overriding medical problems. While practicing medicine since graduating from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1948, Parsons has written many medical articles and chapters in several books. In this new book, he outlines for the general public and for physicians his vast experience in the safe and effective use of niacin. For the past 20 years he has practiced internal medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is a very readable book for the general public. It teaches readers how to be sure their doctors are good at using niacin. "The definition of a doctor good at using niacin? One who has read this book." The knowledge in CHOLESTEROL CONTROL WITHOUT DIET! THE NIACIN SOLUTION can very well reduce heart attacks and strokes, cardiovascular surgery, and deaths, as niacin did in the Coronary Drug Project. From the back cover: WHO NEEDS THIS BOOK? Everyone, really. !The 29 million Americans adults who have cholesterol patterns that should be treated. ! Anyone who has had a heart attack, coronary artery surgery, angioplasty, or other artery procedure, stroke, or surgery on neck or leg arteries. ! Close relatives of persons who have had a heart attack, stroke, or other problem just listed. ! Every adult who does not know his/her bad and good cholesterol fractions. ! Every doctor who does not know how important it is to be good at using niacin. ! Every pharmacist who may be asked to advise patients. ! Persons with excellent cholesterol patterns who are dieting when they don't need to be. ! Persons dieting for cholesterol problems but not tested to be sure their goals are being reached. ! Every persons with relatives or friends in any of these categories. YES--EVERYONE, REALLY!"
~ Written on 1998-11-06