Source: Medical News Today
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Saturday 24 February 2024 13:27:16
Too Much Vitamin B3 May Contribute to Heart Disease, Study Finds
About 20.5 million people around the world died from cardiovascular disease in 2021, making it responsible for a third of all deaths globally.
While there are some unmodifiable risk factors for heart disease, including genderTrusted Source, family historyTrusted Source, and ethnicityTrusted Source, there are several preventable causes for cardiovascular disease, including obesityTrusted Source, high cholesterol levelsTrusted Source, high blood pressureTrusted Source, smokingTrusted Source, eating an unhealthy dietTrusted Source, and not getting enough physical activityTrusted Source.
Now, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute have added to the list of potentially modifiable risk factors with a new study reporting high levels of a common B vitamin called niacin in the body may contribute to cardiovascular disease.
Searching for new heart disease pathways
Finding a potential link between niacin and heart disease was not the original intention of this study, Dr. Stanley Hazen, The Jan Bleeksma Chair in Vascular Cell Biology and Atherosclerosis, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics & Prevention, and director of the Center for Microbiome & Human Health at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and lead author of this study told Medical News Today.
“Our initial goal was to identify new pathways that contribute to heart disease. Even when treating cardiovascular disease risk factors to goal (e.g. cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, etc.), the majority of events (heart attack, stroke, death) continue to occur, or at best, we reduce the event rate by 50%. This means there are other pathways we are not addressing,” Dr. Hazen explained.
Dr. Hazen said he and his team were looking for compounds in the blood that might contribute to the future development of heart attack, stroke, or death independent of traditional risk factors.
“The compound 4PYTrusted Source was identified that is linked to future CVD events — in a U.S. cohort initially, then replication in a U.S. cohort, and further validation in a European cohort,” he continued.
“We then performed preclinical studies (animal model) and cell-based studies — all of which showed this compound contributes to vascular inflammation. 4PY, it turns out, is a breakdown product made from excess niacin,” he told MNT.
What is niacin?
Niacin — also known as vitamin B-3 — is one of eight different B vitamins.
Niacin helps the body convert foods eaten into energy. It also helps keep the skin healthyTrusted Source and the nervous systemTrusted Source running smoothly.
As the body cannot make niacin, it needs to get it from the foods we eat or via a supplement.
For example, the body convertsTrusted Source the amino acid tryptophanTrusted Source — found in most animal products, including meat and dairy — into niacin.
Niacin can also naturally be found in legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. And there are also some foods, such as cereals and breads, fortified with niacin.
The body does not store niacin — any excess not used is removed from the body via urine.
Higher levels of 4PY associated with adverse cardiac event
For this study, Dr. Hazen and his team studied the fasting plasma from about 1,100 people with stable cardiac health.
Upon analysis, researchers discovered that higher circulating levels of N1-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide, or 4PY, were strongly associated with the development of a heart attack, stroke, or other unhealthy cardiac events.
“Our studies found high levels of 4PY in the blood predict future cardiac disease. These new studies help identify a new pathway that contributes to heart disease,” Dr. Hazen said.
However, Dr. Hazen said the main takeaway for readers is not that we should cut out our entire intake of niacin — that’s not a realistic or healthy approach.
Excess 4PY triggers vascular inflammation
Scientists also found that 4PY directly triggers vascular inflammation, which can damage blood vessels and lead to a buildup of plaque on artery walls, known as atherosclerosis.
“Atherosclerosis is caused by both high cholesterol and inflammation. We know how to treat the high cholesterol side of the equation, but not the inflammation side. This pathway appears to be a major participant in vascular inflammation,” Dr. Hazen said.
Dr. Hazen said that now with the discovery of this link, there is much more research to do.
“On the one hand, we need to explore what other cardiovascular diseases/phenotypes are linked to 4PY since vascular inflammation is a fundamental contributor to many diseases/phenotypes — e.g. heart failure, stroke, (and) other forms of vascular disease,” he explained.
“Beyond this, we then want to focus on how to disrupt this pathway to leverage the newly gained knowledge to develop a therapeutic,” he added.
Should I stop using niacin supplements?
MNT also spoke with Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, a board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, about this study.
“This study identifies excess niacin, specifically its breakdown metabolite 4PY, as a risk factor for major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Chen explained.
Dr. Chen said more studies need to be performed to better understand the dose relationship between niacin supplementation and cardiovascular disease.
“For now, I would caution against routine intake of niacin supplements in the average person,” he continued. “It may be more difficult, however, to avoid niacin-fortified foods given its ubiquity in the food chain; niacin fortification may need to be examined at a higher level as a matter of public policy.”
