Gaining

Is there really any need for that?

I'm glad you chose that particular example. The active component in red yeast rice is not stanols, as you state, rather it contains monacolin K, a compound that is identical to lovastatin. The slightly reduced risk of side effects when taking red yeast rice extract occur precisely because the dose of lovastatin/monacolin K is lower. At the appropriate therapeutic dosage, the risk of side effects from the red yeast rice monacolin K is exactly the same.

However, analyses of commercially available red yeast rice extracts have shown the actual dosage to vary wildly, with none of those tested achieving the therapeutic dose of 20mg, and several containing no active ingredient at all. So it's a significantly less effective, safe and predictable intervention.

Additionally, one-third of tested samples were shown to be contaminated with citrinin, a nephrotoxin.

I don't believe you have a particularly comprehensive knowledge of drug approval processes and economics. You do, on the other hand, seem to be displaying what is known as the "Appeal to Nature" fallacy.

And continue to be.

Study published in the June 16, 2009 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine showing that a red rice yeast supplement worked as well to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol as prescription statin drugs. The study included 62 patients, all of whom quit taking statins because of muscle pain, the most common side effect of these drugs. Half the 62 patients in the study received a red rice yeast supplement; the other half were given a placebo. After three months, average LDL levels among those taking the red rice yeast had dropped an average of 27 percent compared with six percent among the placebo group. All the participants were taught how to eat well, exercise and otherwise maintain a healthy lifestyle. Only seven percent of the patients taking the supplement developed muscle pain; among statin users, at least twenty percent experience muscle pain.

Red rice yeast (Monascus purpureus) is a natural source of statins, but unlike pharmaceutical products, it provides a mix of these compounds rather than a single one. The complex mixture interacts with the body more smoothly and is less likely to cause toxicity.

One active ingredient in red rice yeast extract, monacolin K, is the active component of the FDA approved statin Mevacor. The lead researcher of the new study, David Becker, M.D., of Chestnut Hill Cardiology in Pennsylvania, said that because the dose of monacolin K in the red rice yeast supplement used in the study was five times smaller than the amount in a typical Mevacor prescription, “something else is having a powerful lipid-lowering effect.”

Sorry - I just edited the end of my post. But for anyone interested, I had sarcastically said that I "was, you know, just being dense", after I had dismantled fatchance's argument and shown that he had, inadvertently, provided evidence for my own....

...and that was his comeback...

And my comeback was excerpts from a summary of published study results on the exact topic.

And aside from my saying stanols rather than statins, it matches what I said almost perfectly.

Aaaannnd now he's edited his post with a copy/pasted, cherrypicked study from 2009 that supports his argument and not the actual body of evidence.

*Slowclap*

The study I quoted may be unusual in that it was not paid for by a drug company.

And I am done with this topic now that my argument has been "dismantled"... LOL

On a slightly different note, and on EvilFeeder will probably agree with.

Whether you are taking a prescription statin or red yeast rice, a prescription for blood pressure or hawthorne extract, or most other medications, you need to make sure your doctor knows what you are taking and checks you for liver function every 6 months.

Nearly anything you take is hard on the liver, remember Tylenol can kill you via the liver. Be save and make sure your doctor monitors it.

But....it very obviously was!

Out of interest, do you actually have a subscription to Annals of internal Medicine, or did you just copy/paste your text from the website of the discredited celebrity alternative medicine anti-science quack Andrew Weil?

Irrespective of where fatchance sourced it, the summary he posted was a response to a Q&A written by, yes, the discredited celebrity alternative-remedy peddling anti-science quack Andrew Weil.

www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/heart/red-rice-yeast-instead-of-statins/

You'll note that fatchance omitted the following from Weil's response:



A bit like I said, in my earlier post. The same post about which fatchance accused me of continuing "to be dense"...

The trial Weil refers to, Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients: A Randomized Trial is an early, small-scale, short duration randomised controlled trial in which a small cohort of patients were administered carefully regulated, analysed (unlike commercially available) treatment with Red Rice Yeast against placebo.

Critically, it did not compare Red Rice Yeast against current statins. The purpose of the study was to find an alternative to statins for statin-intolerant patients.

Hey fatchance! Here’s an article, published only today, about a study that, in light of today’s conversation, I think we can all agree is very relevant to you:

edmontonjournal.com/news/canada/people-with-extreme-anti-science-views-know-the-least-but-think-they-know-the-most-study/wcm/8c1fded3-b1ab-46ba-ab40-201c9df46672

Enjoy!