Chinese Supplement May Cut Heart Risk

June 9, 2008— -- When 61-year-old Mark Aloe learned that he had high cholesterol and a family history of heart disease nearly 20 years ago, he immediately set out on the standard course of treatment for heart patients with high cholesterol: He began taking a prescription statin.

But after a few years of taking statin drugs, Aloe began to realize he either needed to find another treatment option for lowering his cholesterol or he would have to surrender his quality of life to the statin drugs, which were causing him unbearable muscle pain.

"It got to point with some of the statins that ... you feel like you were in an automobile wreck and you're sore all over and nothing can relieve it until you stop taking the statins," Aloe explained. "It got to point where I couldn't even sleep because I was so sore."

For about 15 years after initially being diagnosed with high cholesterol, Aloe switched back and forth between different forms of statin drugs -- from Lipitor to Crestor and back again.

"I think I must have tried just about all of the statins," Aloe said.

Finally, in 2003, Aloe's doctor at the University of Pittsburgh offered him an unlikely alternative to the prescription statin -- a Chinese herbal supplement.

Only a month and a half after dropping the statin drugs and replacing them with a Chinese supplement called red yeast rice extract, Aloe experienced a drop in his cholesterol levels without any noticeable side effects.

Before taking the red yeast extract pills, Aloe's cholesterol level was at 260; anything above 240 is considered to be "very high risk" by the American Heart Association. About 45 days later, his cholesterol had dropped to 180; anything below 200 is considered to be safe and healthy by the AHA.

"I wish I had heard about this 20 years ago," Aloe said. "I would have started this regimen and wouldn't have had so many years of muscle pain."

New research finds that for heart patients like Aloe -- who are unable or unwilling to tolerate a statin drug to lower their cholesterol levels -- taking a Chinese supplement purchased from a local grocery store might be just as effective at lowering their heart risks.