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Policosanol, a compound derived from Cuban sugar cane wax that is promoted as a natural way to lower cholesterol, does not actually seem to lower the LDL (bad) cholesterol in humans even when taken in high doses, according to a new German study.
Researchers in the study randomly assigned policosanol or a placebo to 143 German adults for a period of 12 weeks. They reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that no difference was found between the study group and controls in terms of LDL cholesterol even with high doses.
Policosanol products from a variety of sources (sugar cane, wheat germ, rice bran, beeswax) are available over-the-counter and on the Internet in more than 40 countries, and advertising for some of these compares its supposed cholesterol -lowering effects to prescription statins.
"Our results suggest that [policosanol] is devoid of clinically relevant lipoprotein-lowering properties in white patients," said
Dr. Heiner Berthold, lead author of the study and executive secretary of the German Medical Association's drug commission.
Previous studies which suggested that policosanol reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol largely were conducted by a company founded by Cuba's National Center for Scientific Research to market
policosanol, the German researchers said.
Source: Medical Week staff, May 17, 2006
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