MONDAY JUNE 9, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) --Taking a partially purified extract of Chinese red yeast rice known as XueZhikang (XZK) may significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in people who have had a heart attack, according to a clinical trial.
The trial results show that compared to those who were given a placebo, people treated with XueZhiKang for five years were 45 percent less likely to have repeat heart attacks, about 33 percent less likely to have revascularization (bypass surgery/angioplasty), cardiovascular mortality and total mortality and 66 percent less likely to die from cancer.
The trial was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind study in which nearly 5,000 patients aged 18 to 72 from over 60 hospitals in China were given either two-300 milligram of XueZhiKang or a placebo daily for a five-year period. All participants had experienced a heart attack in the previous year.
David M. Capuzzi, M.D., Ph.D, at Jefferson's Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and Zonliang Lu, M.D., Ph.D, from the Fuwai Hospital at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science report the trial in the June 15 edition of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Red yeast rice is traditionally used to brew rice wine in China and probably some other countries. Red yeast rice extract has been used as a dietary supplement to lower cholesterol. Recently a study has found that it may also boost bone formation. XZK contained lovastatin, lovastatin hydroxyl acid, ergosterol and other components, according to a press release by Thomas Jefferson University.
"It's very exciting because this is a natural product and had very few adverse side effects including no abnormal blood changes," said Capuzzi.
But he cautioned that "people in the United States should know that the commercially available over-the-counter supplement found in your average health food store is not what was studied here. Those over-the-counter supplements are not regulated, so exact amounts of active ingredient are unknown and their efficacy has not been studied yet."
"I think it is surprising that a natural product like XZK would have this great an effect," said Capuzzi. "Still the results were so profound, even out performing statins prescribed in numerous western populations, that further study should certainly be investigated."
"If further testing and study prove true, my hope is that XZK becomes an important therapeutic agent to treat cardiovascular disorders and in the prevention of disease whether someone has had a heart attack or not."
