All Natural Healthy Cholesterol with Policosanol(15mg) $7.99/60 vcaps
H&N HERBS' healthy cholesterol formula comprises Policosanol (from sugar cane). Only Policosanol from sugar cane has been shown in clinical studies to lower total cholesterol and LDL, and to raise HDL (good cholesterol).
Twenty years ago, Japanese scientists fed wax scraped from sugar cane leaves to rats and pigs. The animals’ cholesterol levels fell. Then a Cuban team extracted the active ingredients, which is a mixture of fatty alcohols, from this wax. This mixture, called policosanol, seems to act like a combination of a cholesterol-lowering statin and aspirin.
Cholesterol, a fat like substance, is an essential component of all cellular membranes, and is required for cellular function and production of vital hormones. Too much cholesterol in the bloodstream leads to narrowing and blockage of the arteries that greatly increase the risk of stroke, coronary heart disease and heart attacks.
Policosanol is a unique natural product derived from sugar-cane wax. Research showed policosanol from sugar cane is effective at reducing cholesterol levels. Research also showed that policosanol reduces cardiac risk factors by inhibiting platelet aggregation, and inhibiting the development of atherosclerosis. A 2002 study published in the American Heart Journal reviewed more than 60 clinical trials of sugar-cane derived policosanol that involved more than 3000 patients, and concluded that policosanol is 'a very promising phytochemical alternative to classic lipid-lowering agents such as statins'. About 30 million Americans are currently using statin drugs. In one study, patients who took a daily dose of 10mg of policosanol experienced a 17% drop in total cholesterol, a 25.6% drop in LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and a 28.4% rise in HDL cholesterol (good). These results suggest that policosanol is as effective as prescription drugs, without their side effects.
The following are abstracts of some of numerous clinical studies showing the safety and efficacy of policosanol in lowering total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, bad cholesterol), and raising the high-density lipoprotein (HDL, good cholesterol). This is to be used for informational purposes only.
Policosanol: clinical pharmacology and therapeutic significance of a new lipid-lowering agent.
Gouni-Berthold I, Berthold HK. Medical Policlinic, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
American Heart Journal 2002 Feb; 143(2): 356-65.
Policosanol is a mixture of higher primary aliphatic alcohols isolated from sugar cane wax, whose main component is octacosanol. The mixture has been shown to lower cholesterol in animal models, healthy volunteers, and patients with type II hypercholesterolemia.
This report reviewed the literature on placebo-controlled lipid-lowering studies using policosanol published in peer-reviewed journals as well as studies investigating its mechanism of action and its clinical pharmacology.
RESULTS: At doses of 10 to 20 mg per day, policosanol lowers total cholesterol by 17% to 21% and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 21% to 29% and raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 8% to 15%. Because higher doses have not been tested up to now, it cannot be excluded that effectiveness may be even greater. Daily doses of 10 mg of policosanol have been shown to be equally effective in lowering total or LDL cholesterol as the same dose of simvastatin or pravastatin. Triglyceride levels are not influenced by policosanol. At dosages of up to 20 mg per day, policosanol is safe and well tolerated, as studies of >3 years of therapy indicate. There is evidence from in vitro studies that policosanol may inhibit hepatic cholesterol synthesis at a step before mevalonate generation, but direct inhibition of the hydroxy-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase is unlikely. Animal studies suggest that LDL catabolism may be enhanced, possibly through receptor-mediated mechanisms, but the precise mechanism of action is not understood yet. Policosanol has additional beneficial properties such as effects on smooth muscle cell proliferation, platelet aggregation, and LDL peroxidation. Data on efficacy determined by clinical end points such as rates of cardiac events or cardiac mortality are lacking.
CONCLUSIONS: Policosanol seems to be a very promising phytochemical alternative to classic lipid-lowering agents such as the statins and deserves further evaluation.
Comparison of the efficacy and tolerability of policosanol with atorvastatin in elderly patients with type II hypercholesterolaemia.
Castano G, Mas R, Fernandez L, Illnait J, Mesa M, Alvarez E, Lezcay M. Medical Surgical Research Center, Havana City, Cuba.
Drugs Aging. 2003; 20(2): 153-63
Hypercholesterolaemia is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Clinical studies have shown that lowering elevated serum total cholesterol (TC) levels, and particularly low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, reduces the frequency of coronary morbidity and deaths, whereas high serum levels of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) protect against CHD. Policosanol is a cholesterol-lowering drug purified from sugar cane wax with a therapeutic dosage range from 5-20 mg/day. A randomised, single-blind, parallel-group study was conducted in older patients (60-80 years) with type II hypercholesterolaemia. After 4 weeks on a cholesterol-lowering diet, 75 patients were randomized to policosanol or atorvastatin 10mg tablets taken once daily with the evening meal for 8 weeks. An interim and final check-up were performed at 4 and 8 weeks, respectively, after treatment was initiated.
RESULTS: At 4 (p < 0.0001) and 8 (p < 0.00001) weeks, policosanol 10 mg/day significantly lowered serum LDL-C levels by 17.5 and 23.1%, respectively compared with baseline; corresponding values for atorvastatin were 28.4 and 29.8%. At study completion, policosanol significantly (p < 0.0001) reduced serum TC (16.4%), LDL-C/HDL-C ratio (25.5%) and TC/HDL-C ratio (19.3%), as well as (p < 0.001) triglyceride levels (15.4%). Atorvastatin significantly (p < 0.0001) decreased serum TC (22.6%), LDL-C/HDL-C (26.2%) and TC/HDL-C (19.8%) ratios, as well as (p < 0.001) triglyceride levels (15.5%). Atorvastatin was significantly more effective than policosanol in reducing LDL-C and TC, but similar in reducing both atherogenic ratios and triglyceride levels. Policosanol, but not atorvastatin, significantly (p < 0.05) increased serum HDL-C levels by 5.3%. Both treatments were well tolerated. Three atorvastatin but no policosanol patients withdrew from the study because of adverse events: muscle cramps (1 patient), gastritis (1 patient) and uncontrolled hypertension, abdominal pain and myalgia (1 patient).
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that policosanol (10 mg/day) administered for 8 weeks was less effective than atorvastatin (10 mg/day) in reducing serum LDL-C and TC levels in older patients with type II hypercholesterolaemia. Policosanol, but not atorvastatin, however, significantly increased serum HDL-C levels, whereas both drugs similarly reduced atherogenic ratios and serum triglycerides.
Policosanol was better tolerated than atorvastatin as revealed by patient withdrawal analysis and overall frequency of adverse events.
*The FDA has not evaluated these statements. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
