Upping My Niacin to 1000 mg

Update 01/22/2023:

I just learned there is an increased risk of diabetes on niacin therapy: https://heart.bmj.com/content/102/3/198
This study was based on people taking Niacin for cardiovascular reasons, which I think would be dosed at 500 to 6000 mg a day: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/niacin-oral-route/proper-use/drg-20065086
According to this video you should be able to eliminate the diabetes risk by not having carbs 3 to 6 hours after your niacin, therefore I will start taking my 1000 mg of niacin after my last meal of the day: How to Take Niacin Without Getting Diabetes https://youtu.be/76mrnovnGQ4

EVERYBODY: FEAR THE FLUSH. DON'T TRY TO START AT 1000 MG. DO YOUR RESEARCH.

I have a high school degree. Caveat Emptor. 

I hope everybody is taking Nicotinic Acid.

I've been taking 250 mg of Niacin (Nicotinic Acid) every day ever since this study came out in June of 2021: Niacin Enhancement for Parkinson’s Disease: An Effectiveness Trial - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352486597_Niacin_Enhancement_for_Parkinson's_Disease_An_Effectiveness_Trial

In this study 47 people took 250 mg of slow release (no flush) Nicotinic Acid for 12 months and all of their UPDRS scores improved (except executive function). Pretty dramatic success.

So... I started on 250 mg time released (could not find slow release) and then switched to fast release (flushing) as I heard time released is not good for the liver (allegedly).  I am no worse than I was 18 months ago.  Probably a little better.  

I should add: I have not been diagnosed with PD. I have RBD, a sore left shoulder and left leg, face dandruff, get dizzy when I stand, and have random involuntary movements. I can say "had" to most of those conditions: My RBD is now very mild and rare. Random involuntary movements are rare. I don't get dizzy when I stand. My face dandruff is better but still there. My sore shoulder is still sore, but not as bad. I have gone back to using a mouse left handed after a year of going right handed.  I should also add: I do a lot of things besides Niacin.

So why am I taking this dose up to 1000 mg? Because I've been looking at papers that show Nicotinic Acid may be able to:

• Cure Systemic NAD+ Deficiency.
• (PwP have low NAD+).
• Treat mitochondrial myopathy.
• Boost Mitochondrial Biogenesis.
• Restore the BBB integrity. 
• This is pretty cool. I had not seen anything capable of maybe fixing the blood brain barrier.
  

These all look like good things to me.

 

So here are the papers:

Niacin Cures Systemic NAD+ Deficiency and Improves Muscle Performance in Adult-Onset Mitochondrial Myopathy 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155041312030190X

• "NAD+ is a redox-active metabolite, the depletion of which has been proposed to promote aging and degenerative diseases in rodents. However, whether NAD+ depletion occurs in patients with degenerative disorders and whether NAD+ repletion improves their symptoms has remained open. Here, we report systemic NAD+ deficiency in adult-onset mitochondrial myopathy patients. We administered an increasing dose of NAD+-booster niacin, a vitamin B3 form (to 750–1,000 mg/day; clinicaltrials.gov NCT03973203) for patients and their matched controls for 10 or 4 months, respectively. Blood NAD+ increased in all subjects, up to 8-fold, and muscle NAD+ of patients reached the level of their controls. Some patients showed anemia tendency, while muscle strength and mitochondrial biogenesis increased in all subjects. In patients, muscle metabolome shifted toward controls and liver fat decreased even 50%. Our evidence indicates that blood analysis is useful in identifying NAD+ deficiency and points niacin to be an efficient NAD+ booster for treating mitochondrial myopathy."
• This is an article about the same paper: Vitamin B3 Boosts Muscle Health in Mitochondrial Myopathy, Study Suggests 2020
  https://mitochondrialdiseasenews.com/2020/05/15/vitamin-b3-niacin-aids-muscle-metabolism-in-mitochondrial-myopathy-pilot-study-suggests/

 

Niacin mitigates blood–brain barrier tight junctional proteins dysregulation and cerebral inflammation in ketamine rat model of psychosis: Role of GPR109A receptor 2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278584622000756

• Male Wistar rats Niacin 40 mg/kg/day. Divide by 8 for Humans and you get 5 mg per kg. For 70 kg human dose would be 350 mg.
• "Niacin also augmented the hippocampal expression of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-5 proteins, indicating the ability of niacin to restore the BBB integrity."

 

Niacin improved rigidity and bradykinesia in a Parkinson's disease patient but also caused unacceptable nightmares and skin rash--a case report 2005
https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/10284150500484638

• "At a routine primary care visit, niacin was increased to 500 mg twice a day for triglyceride reduction. At a three-month follow-up, his family reported he was now initiating many routine activities of daily living that previously required their prompting. At this office visit, on exam he could rise from a chair independently and start walking with minimal latency. Previously, he needed the examiner to lend him a hand to get up, and he took a few seconds to start walking. Rigidity was noticeably diminished."

Progresses in both basic research and clinical trials of NAD+ in Parkinson’s disease 2021
https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.mad.2021.111499

• "These studies indicate disturbances in NAD+ metabolism as a common feature in cellular and animal models of PD and point toward NAD+ supplementation as a valuable therapeutic approach to boost mitochondrial function and halt DA neurodegeneration. However, additional studies are needed to further substantiate the relationship between NAD+ levels and PD onset and progression".

 

These 3 studies and the case study all used Nicotinic Acid, not NR and not NMN. Plain old cheap Niacin.

 

Why am I going with 1000 mg a day?

• My lack of education makes me think more is better.
• The "Niacin Cures Systemic NAD+ Deficiency..." study used 750 to 1000 mg.
• The case report from 2005 used 500 mg twice a day.
• And I will throw in the NADPARK study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03816020) where they went with 1000 mg of NR a day.
• I know this is not niacin, but it is close to niacin.
  

Dave