Red yeast rice lowers cholesterol in physicians - a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, red yeast rice (RYR) supplements have been marketed aggressively as a natural way to lower cholesterol; however, the large majority of commercially available products have not been studied according to current research standards.In a double blind placebo controlled randomized trial, 52 physicians and their spouses with a total cholesterol level of?>?200 mg/dL were randomly allocated to receive a RYR extract or placebo for 8 weeks. As a primary outcome measure, we compared the before-after difference in lipid levels between both groups. As secondary outcome measures we looked at side-effects, CK elevation and a change in cardiovascular risk.LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol was lowered with 36 mg/dL (22%) and total cholesterol with 37 mg/dL (15%) in the intervention group. This result was statistically significant as compared to the control group, in which no reduction in total cholesterol and LDL was observed (p?

SUBMITTER: Verhoeven V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3726474 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature