MedVitamins NIACINAMIDE

Niacinamide is one of the water-soluble B-complex vitamins. Niacin, or nicotinic acid, is also known as Vitamin B-3. When an amide molecule attaches itself to niacin, it becomes niacinamide. One major difference is that in doses exceeding 50 mg, niacin typically produces flushing of the skin. Niacin and niacinamide also have different applications. It its niacinamide form, it is useful in arthritis and early-onset type I diabetes; niacin is an effective reducer of high cholesterol levels.

Niacinamide was first linked to preventing the development of diabetes in experimental animals in the 1950s, a finding confirmed in the 1980s which led to further clinical studies. Niacinamide enhances insulin secretion and increases insulin sensitivity. Evidence points to niacinamide supplements being very effective in preventing type I diabetes from progressing in some patients if given soon enough at the onset of diabetes. It does so primarily by helping restore beta cells.

Several studies done on high-risk groups led to a larger population-based study conducted in New Zealand to see if supplements can prevent diabetes from developing in high risk groups. The results of screening 32,000 five- to seven-year-old children for islet cell antibodies and treating those at risk proved quite impressive. Treating diabetes is very costly, but early intervention by screening (as done in the New Zealand study) and treating with niacinamide supplements could dramatically cut health-care costs.1

Evidence on the impact of niacinamide on arthritis is only preliminary. Drs. William Kaufman and Abram Hoffer have reported positive clinical results in the treatment of hundreds of patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis using high doses of niacinamide. These results have yet to be fully evaluated in detailed clinical studies.2

1. Elliot RB and Pilcher CC, Prevention of diabetes in normal school children. Diabetes Res Clin Pract14, S85, 1991; and Mandrup Paulsen T, et al., Nicotinamide in the prevention of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Metabol Rev 9, 295-309, 1993.

2. Kaufman, W, The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction: Its Incidence and Treatment. E. L. Hildreth Company, Brattleboro, VT, 1949; and Hoffer, A, Treatment of arthritis by nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. Canadian Medical Association Journal 81; 235-239, 1959.


	NIACINAMIDE
	Niacinamide is one of the water-soluble B-complex vitamins. Niacin, or nicotinic acid, is also known as Vitamin B-3. When an amide molecule attaches itself to niacin, it becomes niacinamide. One major difference is that in doses exceeding 50 mg, niacin typically produces flushing of the skin. Niacin and niacinamide also have different applications. It its niacinamide form, it is useful in arthritis and early-onset type I diabetes; niacin is an effective reducer of high cholesterol levels. Niacinamide was first linked to preventing the development of diabetes in experimental animals in the 1950s, a finding confirmed in the 1980s which led to further clinical studies. Niacinamide enhances insulin secretion and increases insulin sensitivity. Evidence points to niacinamide supplements being very effective in preventing type I diabetes from progressing in some patients if given soon enough at the onset of diabetes. It does so primarily by helping restore beta cells. Several studies done on high-risk groups led to a larger population-based study conducted in New Zealand to see if supplements can prevent diabetes from developing in high risk groups. The results of screening 32,000 five- to seven-year-old children for islet cell antibodies and treating those at risk proved quite impressive. Treating diabetes is very costly, but early intervention by screening (as done in the New Zealand study) and treating with niacinamide supplements could dramatically cut health-care costs.1 Evidence on the impact of niacinamide on arthritis is only preliminary. Drs. William Kaufman and Abram Hoffer have reported positive clinical results in the treatment of hundreds of patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis using high doses of niacinamide. These results have yet to be fully evaluated in detailed clinical studies.2 1. Elliot RB and Pilcher CC, Prevention of diabetes in normal school children. Diabetes Res Clin Pract14, S85, 1991; and Mandrup Paulsen T, et al., Nicotinamide in the prevention of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Metabol Rev 9, 295-309, 1993. 2. Kaufman, W, The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction: Its Incidence and Treatment. E. L. Hildreth Company, Brattleboro, VT, 1949; and Hoffer, A, Treatment of arthritis by nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. Canadian Medical Association Journal 81; 235-239, 1959.