UCLA researchers find Garlic has ability to reduce heart disease risk factors

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, July, 2003

Investigators find more evidence that aged garlic extract may significantly benefit millions of Americans being treated for heart disease or those at high risk for heart attacks.

If you, or someone you know, are taking statin drugs to reduce cholesterol or are otherwise at high risk for a heart attack, adding garlic to your diet could help save your life. Investigators at the Research & Education Institute (REI) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center have announced results of a study indicating that aged garlic extract may not only reduce or inhibit plaque formation in the heart's arteries, but may also lower homocysteine levels in the blood - now considered a major risk factor for heart attacks.

In a year-long double blind, randomized clinical study, REI investigators followed 19 cardiac patients. Nine were given daily doses of 4 mL of Kyolic[R]/Aged Garlic Extract while 10 were given a placebo. At the end of the study, patients taking Kyolic had significantly less coronary plaque formation than did those in the placebo group. Further, the Kyolic/AGE group tended to have lower blood homocysteine levels.

Because all of the patients were being treated with statin drugs, their total cholesterol was not changed. However, those in the Kyolic group showed a tendency toward reduced LDL (bad cholesterol) and increased HDL (good cholesterol). "News of these results can have an important impact on public health, particularly for those people already on statin therapy," said lead REI researcher Matthew Budoff, MD, FACC. "Although it was a small clinical trial, this work clearly shows that aged garlic extract (AGE) inhibited the rate of progression of coronary plaque formation, as compared to placebo over one year. It suggests that AGE may be a useful and beneficial dietary addition for the people who have high cardiovascular risk or who have undergone heart surgery," he added.

More than 350 scientific studies have been completed on aged garlic extract, done in major universities. These studies have focused on aspects such as cholesterol, high blood pressure, homocysteine levels, inhibiting LDL oxidation, anti-platelet aggregation and adhesion, i.e. blood thinning effect, stimulating blood circulation, immune stimulation, cognitive effects, liver function and anti-tumor effects.

Kyolic[R] is a trademark and a product of Wakunaga of America Company, a subsidiary of Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company. Kyolic is also distributed by Pharmaton Natural Health Products, a division of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical.