theheart.org is reporting today that The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be launching a review of all niacin (nicotinic acid) agents. This is due to new data from a soon to be reported trial at the ACC in San Francisco, HPS2-THRIVE. It is being reported that a combination of niacin and another agent (which was supposed to reduce the flushing of niacin) "failed to show that the combination reduces the risk of major vascular events (such as heart attack and stroke), and a higher frequency of non-fatal but serious side effects was seen in patients taking the combination."
The EMA is launching the review to insure that the findings do not apply to all niacin medicationd but hopefully only to the above combination compound.
As of now, if you are currently on niacin, there is no specific warning that you must stop using it. Recent studies over the past year have shown that although niacin raises the HDL and lowers LDL - no definitive reduction in clinical outcomes have been proven.
If you are concerned, I recommend you discuss it further with you physician.
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