Long story short, my mom has probs w/high cholesterol and triglycerides and her triglycerides were not responding to the cholesterol meds, so her doc prescribed at sustained release Niacin (Nyspan) which costs $62/month. I told her that I got hubby's niacinamide for about $15 for about a 2 month supply at the local health food store, and the niacins were probably comparable to that.

When I asked the clerk about the differences in the Niacin and niacinamide, I mentioned the different reasons we were looking into it, and she asked if I had hubby on Nattokinase, because there was a new study out that showed it actually helped destroy the plaques that build up in AD.

I am always skeptical of 'sure cures' that everyone is always telling me about, so I came here to look.

Didn't see anything on it, so I'm off to do some research of my own, but thought I'd ask the question anyway.

I am in the market for a cholesterol reducer, myself. My husband's geri suggested red yeast rice extract, which he says several of his patients have used with considerable success. BeckyP says it gave her bad diarrhea... !

Anyway, I started looking into Nattokinase, and noticed that it is an anticoagulant that purportedly is sometimes recommended as a substitute for daily aspirin therapy. So you'd need to take that into account when deciding whether to use it for your mom.

A couple of studies in rats and rabbits indicated it might also be good for lowering LDL cholesterol, but animal models are often not very good models for humans.

There have recently been two very small clinical trials in humans.

One was placebo-controlled, involving 30 people with hypercholesterolemia:

http://www.tsoc.org.tw/db/Jour/1/20090331/4.pdf

Both groups were put on a low cholesterol diet. Neither group had any statistically significant changes in any of the parameters measured. There was a "trend" toward a greater reduction of both HDL and LDL in the nattokinase group.

Another study involving 45 subjects was designed to look at blood clotting factors as well as lipids. It found no statistically significant changes in blood lipids, either.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19358933

Both studies were relatively short (8 weeks).

I didn't find anything else in any reputable journal -- all other studies are on the enzyme's fibrinolytic characteristics.

There is an Dr. McDougall with a diet regimen that he says will show results lowering cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, etc. in 12 days:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/

It seems simple enough, No dairy, No animal products, No added fats or oils. Almost any fruit or vegetable is OK (except if you are trying to lose weight). If you want to eat baked potatoes, great. Carrots, fine. You can eat lettuce until you feel like a rabbit. Theoretically, you won't be hungry since you can eat as much as you want.

I've tried to follow this diet, and it is HARD. I haven't been able to do it for more than a week. It's the time it takes to prepare the food. It's the convenience of fast food, frozen dinners and restaurant meals.

I suppose that removing bad things from your diet is the better way to go than adding medicines (either natural or man-made) to your diet, but I haven't been able to do it.

Well, thanks, but I was actually wondering if anyone had heard anything about the Nattokinase related to Alzheimers. The lady at the health food store said there was a recent study that showed in reduced the plaques that build up in AD.
I haven't found it yet, but then maybe I'm not looking in the right place.
I guess next time I go back to the store, I'll ask her to show me what she read. . .

I have had good success with red yeast rice. However-I do eat close to the Mediterranean diet. Red yeast rice does contain the precussor to lovastatin so lab work should be done to assess for liver function.

You're right, that is the question that you asked!

Yes, there's been a study which showed that nattokinase can help dissolve "amyloid fibrils", but it was done in solution, with fibrils that the researchers synthesized, made from various types of peptides (that they also synthesized) ... which is a very, very, very long way from showing the enzyme would be effective against actual Abeta fibrils in plaques (which are quite complicated in structure) in the human body.

http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bit...6246/162513/1/07.pdf

JAB, have you started using the red yeast rice yet? I still haven't tried another brand. Perhaps the diarrhea problem I had, was with the Joe Weider brand from Costco, or it could not mix with all the other things I'm taking. They did tell me that they had no other complaints like this.

I know that others are taking RYR without the poop issues. So who knows. Still searching for the right thang.

swarfmaker, I know what you mean about trying to stick to the right diet, sometimes expensiive and a lot of added work.

DSM14, I will now look into Nattokinase. The health food store that I go to, has a program I guess, that when I have questions about stuff, they print out all the information they have on it, with links to research, so I can take it home and do all the research myself. They gave me a printout about 20 pages long on AD and supplements. WOW Maybe they have something like this at your healthfood store with any research on Nattokinase.

As JAB as posted many times, you can't just trust what someone tells you will help or cure, especially if they are trying to sell you something. We have to, unfortunately, spend the time to research and try to understand the science and make the best decision for our own situation.

meeko11, what brand RYR are you taking and how much?

Becky-I'm not brand loyal get what's on sale. I'm taking 600mg daily. Keeps my total cholesteral about 200, HDL high and LDL low-excellant ratio. If you want an easy way to remember which is the good and which is the bad try this: HDL-heavenly, LDL-lethal

Becky, I just ordered the RYR but haven't received it, so I can't tell you poop stories yet.

Doc said 600 mg 2x per day (no specific brand) plus Omega-3's 1,000 mg 2x. I was already doing the Omega-3's.

Thanks JAB, I'm sure you will let us know how things come out.

What type or form of Omega 3 are you taking? I take a fish oil blend 1200 mg with dinner and organic flaxseed oil 1300 mg with omega 6 & 9 with alpha linolenic acid 780 mg with dinner.

If you don't mind where do you get most of your supplements from?

Some I get at Costco, they sell larger bottles, some off the internet and some from the health good store. I find the health food store is always higher priced, but maybe better quality, who knows.

LOL... Now I'm really nervous about trying it!

Fish oil blend.

Mostly, I use vitacost.com. Good prices, top-notch service. As far as I can tell, they sell the exact same stuff as in the health food stores.

Hey, Becky. The RYR arrived, and I gingerly took my first capsule last night. So far, no explosions... I'm going to stick with one each night for a week, and if that goes OK, up it to morning and evening.

I've been taking RYR once daily for years and not had a "problem"

So far so good JAB. Maybe I'll try a different brand.

Fingers crossed or should I say legs crossed.