Overall, this is a good piece that reports on a recent study that found policosanol to have no effect on low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. This observation differs from the previously published work on this compound, most of which has been conduced by a single research group in Cuba.
Although this product is readily available as a nutritional supplement, this new study calls into question the whether policosanol has any benefit in terms of reducing LDL cholesterol.
This article failed to mention some of the pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions that have actually been demonstrated to reduce LDL cholesterol. This is one weakness in the article — there is ample evidence regarding other prescription medications that do improve LDL cholesterol — and alternative treatments . These should have been mentioned.
There were no cost estimates for policosanol either as sole ingredient supplement or when included in a multi-vitamin preparation.
The article reported that there was no difference in LDL cholesterol levels after 12 weeks of treatment between the ‘dummy pill’ and policosanol group.
The article neglected to mention that the study reported no severe adverse effects of policosanol.
Although policosanol was reported to be ineffective in lowering LDL cholesterol, the article failed to explicitly mention that – by definition – a harm of treatment is inadequate treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol.
This article reports on the findings of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It reported on the controversy that policosanol has previously been reported to reduce LDL cholesterol in studies sponsored by the Cuban sugar cane industry and Cuban government. – But the results of the new study differ markedly from these.
This article did not appear to engage in disease-mongering.
This piece included comments from several sources, including a spokesperson from the manufacturer of One-A-Day vitamins which contains policosanol in at least one formulation and a quote from a spokesperson from a trade group with interest in supplement sales. In addition, it appears that an attempt was made to get a statement from the Cuban scientific center that has sponsored the studies in Cuba of this compound.
This article failed to mention some of the pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions that have actually been demonstrated to reduce LDL cholesterol. This is one key weakness in the article — there is ample evidence regarding other prescription medications that do improve LDL cholesterol — and alternative treatments . These should have been mentioned.
The article mentioned that this supplement is widely available from internet as well as brick and mortar stores. It would have been helpful to explicitly state that policosanol is available over-the-counter without a prescription.
As a nutritional supplement, policosanol requires no FDA approval for sale, information that would have been informative to include as well.
Although policosanol has been suggested by some as a natural substance that can be used to reduce cholesterol, the novelty reported on in this article was that a carefully designed study found it not effective in lowering LDL cholesterol.
It’s clear that the story did not rely solely on a news release, because at least one comment in the story came from the journal article’s “Discussion” section, and was not included in the JAMA news release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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