ok to take policosonol & red yeast rice with statin drugs?

[Guest guest]

i've been prescribing red yeast rice (hong gu) and polycosonal (sp?) to

patients on statins as a way to reduce or get off the drug to a small

population of patients, without incident. today a patient told me he had

been warned not to take 2 statins together (red yeast rice + drug).

 

can anyone confirm this contraindication? what about polycosonal +

statins? any known c/i?

 

--

Kath Bartlett, LAc, MS, BA UCLA

Oriental Medicine

Experienced, Dedicated, Effective

 

Flying Dragon Liniment:

Effective pain relief for muscles & joints

Formulated by Kath Bartlett, Traditional Chinese Herbalist

Available at Asheville Center for :

www.FlyingDragonLiniment.com

 

and from the following suppliers:

Kamwo Herbal Pharmacy: NY - Chinatown

https://www.kamwo.com/shop/product.php?productid=17442 & cat=0 & page=1

 

Golden Needle Acupuncture, Herbal & Medical Supply - Candler, NC

http://www.goldenneedleonline.com/index.php?page=categories & category=14 & vendor= & \

product=5554 & pg=

 

 

Asheville Center For

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Asheville, NC 28801 828.258.2777

kbartlett

www.AcupunctureAsheville.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Kath,

 

Red yeast rice contains Lovastatin. You are essentially just raising

their dosage of statins. They should do one or the other, not both.

 

- Bill Schoenbart

 

 

Chinese Medicine , " Kath Bartlett,

MS, LAc " wrote:

>

> i've been prescribing red yeast rice (hong gu) and polycosonal (sp?) to

> patients on statins as a way to reduce or get off the drug to a small

> population of patients, without incident. today a patient told me

he had

> been warned not to take 2 statins together (red yeast rice + drug).

>

> can anyone confirm this contraindication? what about polycosonal +

> statins? any known c/i?

>

> --

> Kath Bartlett, LAc, MS, BA UCLA

> Oriental Medicine

> Experienced, Dedicated, Effective

>

> Flying Dragon Liniment:

> Effective pain relief for muscles & joints

> Formulated by Kath Bartlett, Traditional Chinese Herbalist

> Available at Asheville Center for :

> www.FlyingDragonLiniment.com

>

> and from the following suppliers:

> Kamwo Herbal Pharmacy: NY - Chinatown

> https://www.kamwo.com/shop/product.php?productid=17442 & cat=0 & page=1

>

> Golden Needle Acupuncture, Herbal & Medical Supply - Candler, NC

>

http://www.goldenneedleonline.com/index.php?page=categories & category=14 & vendor= & \

product=5554 & pg=

>

>

> Asheville Center For

> 70 Woodfin Place, Suite West Wing Two

> Asheville, NC 28801 828.258.2777

> kbartlett

> www.AcupunctureAsheville.com

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

If Red Yeast Rice still contains the active statin component, then yes, I

would say it is cc to use with pts currently on prescription statins.

 

However, wasn't it somewhere around 5 years ago that the FDA pulled all the

Red Yeast Rice off the shelves because of this reason?

 

I know that Red Yeast Rice has been back on the shelves for the past year or

so, but my understanding is that these products were allowed back because

they no longer contain the statin component....basically rendering it

useless for that purpose.

 

Has anyone been able to get information on this directly from the

manufacturers? I have done, from time to time, various internet searches and

haven't been able to find a definitive answer. For this reason, I no longer

use RYR because I can't be sure it still has the beneficial properties

needed to recommend its use...Can anyone corroborate or clarify this?

 

As for the policosanol - there were some studies that started coming out

about 3 years ago indicating no specific connection between policosanol and

cholesterol levels. They were compelling enough to get me to reconsider

policosanol's role in my clinic for that purpose. Has anyone seen clinical

(i.e., measurable) changes in their patient's cholesterol using policosanol

alone?

 

J

________

Joy Keller, LAc, Dipl.OM

Board Certified in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

Ramona Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine Clinic

Phone: (760) 654-1040 Fax: (760) 654-4019

www.RamonaAcupuncture.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I have another question: can someone explain cholesterol in terms of

CM? In those terms, when does it become an issue - if it does?

Thanks

Karen

 

 

Joy Keller wrote:

 

> If Red Yeast Rice still contains the active statin component, then yes, I

> would say it is cc to use with pts currently on prescription statins.

>

> However, wasn't it somewhere around 5 years ago that the FDA pulled

> all the

> Red Yeast Rice off the shelves because of this reason?

>

> I know that Red Yeast Rice has been back on the shelves for the past

> year or

> so, but my understanding is that these products were allowed back because

> they no longer contain the statin component....basically rendering it

> useless for that purpose.

>

> Has anyone been able to get information on this directly from the

> manufacturers? I have done, from time to time, various internet

> searches and

> haven't been able to find a definitive answer. For this reason, I no

> longer

> use RYR because I can't be sure it still has the beneficial properties

> needed to recommend its use...Can anyone corroborate or clarify this?

>

> As for the policosanol - there were some studies that started coming out

> about 3 years ago indicating no specific connection between

> policosanol and

> cholesterol levels. They were compelling enough to get me to reconsider

> policosanol's role in my clinic for that purpose. Has anyone seen clinical

> (i.e., measurable) changes in their patient's cholesterol using

> policosanol

> alone?

>

> J

> ________

> Joy Keller, LAc, Dipl.OM

> Board Certified in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

> Ramona Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine Clinic

> Phone: (760) 654-1040 Fax: (760) 654-4019

> www.RamonaAcupuncture.com

>

>

[Guest guest]

If FDA finds a red yeast rice product with enhanced levels of

lovastatin, they will take action against the company. In their

warning letters, they say that natural red yeast rice contains little,

if any, lovastatin. Products with enhanced levels of lovastatin are

considered unapproved drugs. This actually makes sense, since it is

easy to exceed the maximum daily dose of lovastatin when taking these

enhanced products.

 

- Bill

 

 

Chinese Medicine , " Joy Keller "

<JKellerLAc wrote:

>

> If Red Yeast Rice still contains the active statin component, then

yes, I

> would say it is cc to use with pts currently on prescription statins.

>

> However, wasn't it somewhere around 5 years ago that the FDA pulled

all the

> Red Yeast Rice off the shelves because of this reason?

>

> I know that Red Yeast Rice has been back on the shelves for the past

year or

> so, but my understanding is that these products were allowed back

because

> they no longer contain the statin component....basically rendering it

> useless for that purpose.

>

> Has anyone been able to get information on this directly from the

> manufacturers? I have done, from time to time, various internet

searches and

> haven't been able to find a definitive answer. For this reason, I no

longer

> use RYR because I can't be sure it still has the beneficial properties

> needed to recommend its use...Can anyone corroborate or clarify this?

>

> As for the policosanol - there were some studies that started coming out

> about 3 years ago indicating no specific connection between

policosanol and

> cholesterol levels. They were compelling enough to get me to reconsider

> policosanol's role in my clinic for that purpose. Has anyone seen

clinical

> (i.e., measurable) changes in their patient's cholesterol using

policosanol

> alone?

>

> J

> ________

> Joy Keller, LAc, Dipl.OM

> Board Certified in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

> Ramona Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine Clinic

> Phone: (760) 654-1040 Fax: (760) 654-4019

> www.RamonaAcupuncture.com

>

>

>