Many medicine being used today have side effects. This can range from mild ones all the way to severe forms of side effects. A popular heart medicine is being studied because of side effects caused by it.
Niacin has been popular as a heart disease medicine. It has its side effects though, such as patients' skin getting red. This side effects can be seen on the face, which has led people to abandon the medication.
A new study is now looking into the side effects caused by niacin. For years doctors have looked at how large the red area is on a patient. However, the new study is focusing not on the area, but on how fast the side effects appear on patients.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are looking at how fast the side effects appear on patients taking niacin. The researchers are using new technology to look at skin color, blood flow and temperature in patients. Patients who take niacin might experience skin redness, swelling and heat to the face. Pain could also be experienced by some patients.
For years doctors have been focusing more on the extent of the side effects of niacin. The side effects are known as Niacin Associated Skin Toxicity (NASTy). First author and lead investigator Dr. Richard L. Dunbar, M.D., MSTR and assistant professor of Medicine at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania said that doctors should instead focus on how fast the side effects appear.
Therapies have been made to lessen the extent of the side effects. However, the therapies used also lessen the effectiveness of niacin. With the new study, Dr. Dunbar has said that doctors might now have the ability to understand more about the side effects caused by niacin.
The study has been made by having 16 participants have their skin provoked 68 times in different conditions, according to Penn Medicine News. This is to understand the effects of niacin have on patients. Dr. Dunbar has found that at a certain level, the participants did not notice the effects anymore.
Dr. Dunbar has noted that this the results have been against what has been known to medical science. Conventionally, it has been thought that the greater redness found, the more severe patients experience the side effects, as Science Daily reports. The tests have shown though that participants experienced the side effects more severely five minutes later, which is faster than anticipated.
Niacin has been effective as a heart disease medicine. Its side effects though make patients uncomfortable with it. Now the popular heart medicine is being studied because of side effects. Irregular heartbeat is being further studied as well.
