Niacin also lowers ldl and triglycerides.
And I'm not sure I'm buyin the recent research you posted since there's tons of studies showing the opposite with niacin.
Sure thing I see your point, however that link was to three very recent studies that came to the same conclusion, that the HDL-C from supraphysiological dosages of Niacin is ineffective at preventing an adverse cardiac event in the future.
While it does effectively raise HDL-C levels that may not be beneficial and maybe detrimental in the long run...
The AIM HIGH study was terminated for the same reason, "niacin/niaspan did not demonstrate a beneficial effect on the primary endpoint."
AIM-HIGH Study Overview
of those pt's that had an ischemic stroke all were taking niacin either alone or combination with a statin and all had their event up to 4 years after discontinuing niacin therapy.
Despite increasing HDL-C niacin is very pro inflammatory...
Nacin also
increases homocystine levels dramatically while driving down levels of B6 and B12, in addition to
significantly increasing endothelial inflammatory marker Lp-PLA2 "the reason for the failure of the AIM-HIGH failure"
Niacin (nicotinic acid) in non-physiological doses... [Br J Nutr. 2002] - PubMed - NCBI
Niacin (nicotinic acid) in non-physiological doses causes hyperhomocysteineaemia in Sprague-Dawley rats.
Abstract 16318: Niacin Dramatically Raises the Endothelial Inflammatory Marker Lp-PLA2: The Reason the AIM-HIGH Trail Failed Despite Improvements in HDL and Triglycerides -- Gundry and Epstein 124 (10021): A16318 -- Circulation
Niacin Dramatically Raises the Endothelial Inflammatory Marker Lp-PLA2: The Reason the AIM-HIGH Trail Failed Despite Improvements in HDL and Triglycerides
Of course all this is even a concern if you believe the flawed mythology that dyslipidemia the "lipid hypothesis" cause heart disease in the first place, and yes you will find hundreds of studies supporting "high LDL, low HDL = increased risk of adverse cardiac event", that does not prove causation though...
Cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease
Highlights recent findings..
Report of the Conference on Low Blood Cholestero... [Circulation. 1992] - PubMed - NCBI
Report of the Conference on Low Blood Cholesterol: Mortality Associations.
"Reviewed 11 major studies including 125,000 women, it was determined that there was absolutely no relationship between total cholesterol levels and mortality from cardiovascular or any other causes."
See also the Framingham Heart Study and MONICA studies
Framingham Heart Study
All current and relevant research is now directed at inflammation and oxidative stress as the precipitating factors of cardiac disease not cholesterol either dietary or serum (of which there is no correlation between those two as well). High LDL, low HDL serve more as warning signs that something is potentially wrong..
And an added benefit of elevated LDL-C from a recent Texas A&M study:
Texas A&M study on Cholesterol in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh, Kent State University, the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine Bad Cholesterol Not as Bad as People Think, Study Shows | College of Education and Human Development
"Of 52 adults from ages to 60 to 69 who were in generally good health but not physically active, and none of them were participating in a training program. The study showed that after fairly vigorous workouts,
participants who had gained the most muscle mass also had the highest levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, "a very unexpected result and one that surprised us."
"The more LDL you have in your blood, the better you are able to build muscle during resistance training."
American College of Cardiology
ww.cardiosource.org/News-Media/Media-Center/News-Releases/2012/03/LDL_Cancer.aspx
LOW LDL CHOLESTEROL IS RELATED TO CANCER RISK
Pterostilbene is not a "new" drug it is a stilbenoid like resveratrol, but significantly more bioavailable, nor are the fibrate class drugs new....
Besides, why would you not want to utilize a ppar alpha agonist and derive all of its other benefits as well in addition to normalizing lipids/triglycerides, but also anti cancer, neuro protective, increased lipolysis and fatty acid metabolism, oxidation, and increased insulin sensitivity, as well as anti inflammatory through NF-kB inhibition and its role in skeletal myogenesis hypertrophy/atrophy through inhibition of UPS system and atrogen1/MAFbx, MuRF1 i.e. atrophy/catabolism.
File:Human hepatocyte PPARalpha transcriptome.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia