Since statins are often discontinued due to tolerability problems, a study of dyslipidemic patients (n=100) post percutaneous coronary intervention by Marazzi and colleagues published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology sought to determine the value of a combination of nutraceuticals (policosanol, folic acid, red yeast rice, berberine, astaxanthin and coenzyme Q10) called Armolipid Plus, with or without ezetimibe in getting these patients’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) <100 mg/dL. Initially patients were randomized to either ezetimibe (n=50) or the nutraceutical product (n=50). For patients who did not reach the LDL-C target at 3 months, the alternative treatment could be added for another 12 months. At 3 months, none of the patients in the ezetimibe group reached target LDL-C as compared to 14 patients in the nutraceutical group. At 1 year, 72.5% of the patients on the combined therapy (n=86) and 100% of patients in the nutraceutical group (n=14) were at LDL-C target with no patient complaints of tolerability problems. The authors concluded that this nutraceutical product alone or in combination with ezetimibe is well tolerated and helps patients get LDL-C <100 mg/dL in statin-intolerant patients with known coronary heart disease.
See Abstract