We’re already going strong in my Series on what you can do to slow down PKD, or even reverse it. It depends on the severity of your condition. You might be thinking- “why is he telling me all those details? Just tell me what to do!” – but this is the thinking that modern doctors often encourage. I’m telling you today, the best doctor in the room- is YOU. We all have to know this stuff, so we can find out what’s working for each of us individually, and what is not working. And we can share the results here! wonderful, right? So today’s PKD mechanism is: SIRT1! And todays molecular Trigger… Niacinamide! You might have heard about the study on Niacinamide and PKD thats been going on for some time now.

Link: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02558595 Niacinamide (which is NOT regular Niacin, don’t confuse them) has been shown in animal studies to slow cyst growth by inhibition of SIRT1.

Currently, human trials are done to see if it works in humans, too. But do you have the time to wait? Can you risk waiting for the study to complete? No. You have to decide now what you’re going to do. This one is a little more nuanced than most of the mechanisms we are talking about. See, SIRT1 is a longevity pathway- and in this case, inhibiting the longevity of the cysts also may inhibit our own longevity. If you are in a late stage of PKD, you might decide to go all in and use Niacinamide to inhibit cyst growth as much as you can, maybe just until you are on the right track again. In an early stage I would probably forgo this one, until you have tried all the other supplements and mechanisms (start with mTOR) and see if they make a difference for you.

Normal Niacin is still a good idea for everyone: 50-100mg of niacin per day is a great anti aging strategy.

Should you decide to go ahead with it- on to SIRT1. SIRT1 is an enzyme that “deacetylates proteins that contribute to cellular regulation”. One of Sirtuin 1’s duties is to block Apoptosis, the healthy controlled cell death of damaged cells like cysts, but also other damaged cells, which can be induced by something called p53. We will hear more about that. So if we inhibit SIRT1, more cystic cells will be recycled! Thats great. One caveat, though: Always take Niacinamide with lunch, if you are doing bulletproof intermittent fasting (which you should be doing) – because Niacinamide also activates mTOR. Read all about mTOR in POST#02. If you flush(get all hot) from your Niacinamide, it’s probably been labeled wrong. Its regular Niacin. Get another formulation. You should titrate up from 100mg daily all the way up to 10mg/kg 3 times daily to get the dose equivalent to the study. Always take it with food so it’s easier on your stomach. If you get a stomach-ache, stop for 2 weeks, then try dissolving Niacinamide in water first and drink the water with food.

So for a 100kg person that would be 10mgx100kg=1000mg three times daily, so thats 3000mg total. Interested in Niacinamide? Great resources are here:

Doctor Saul knows all about it: http://www.doctoryourself.com/JOM1.html – Just replace “Arthritis” with “PKD” in your head. 😉 Heal well!