QUESTION
Dear Dr ______________________
Hope all is well with you.
I’ve been taking high dose niacin now for 6 years(6-7 g/day) with
reasonably good lipid numbers(as long as I can maintain a good weight,
<185 lbs). I am wondering if you would have any thoughts on a possible
connection between niacin and the disappearance of a heart murmur?
I’ve had a heart murmur for over 20 years, and at my last doctor
check-up he determined that I no longer have a murmur.
He was the doctor that first heard and informed me of the murmur,
22 years ago. Any time since then when going in for a doctor check-up
it was normally mentioned as being there. I had him check twice to
confirm the disappearance. He didn’t believe it could have been the
niacin, but explained it as a possible valve molding its way into
place.
Have you heard of any such case? I looked on the internet and could
not find a connection.
ANSWER
Dear Mr. ____________
Delighted you are getting on so well. Niacin does so many wonderful things to the body and especially to its circulation that I would not be surprised if it were partly responsible for having lost your murmur. However I must admit that I am not an epert in cardiology and I have no idea whether this has happened before. I have not heard of this happening but perhaps it is not unique. If you have a friendly cardiologist I suggest you discuss this with him.
Dr. ________________