Plasma Cholesterol Control- The Oriente Pharmaceutical Laboratory produces, for the first time on a large scale, soy lecithin tablets for the control of plasma cholesterol and other diseases.

This nutritional supplement reduces excess LDL cholesterol (harmful) and promotes the synthesis in the liver of a large amount of HDL cholesterol (beneficial) and through clinical tests has proved the usefulness of soy lecithin for people suffering from organic brain psychosyndrome.

Martha Zoe Lemus, a researcher who is leading the studies for the development of the phytopharmaceutical, explained that lecithin is a type of fat produced by the liver, which is part of all the cells of the organism and has a determining role in the regulation and metabolism of lipids.

The compound is extracted during the processing of soybean oil, so since Santiago de Cuba has a processing plant, researchers from the Technological Innovation Group of the Oriente Pharmaceutical Laboratory developed the formula for chewable pills, he said.

Although the fluid extract of soy lecithin has been commercialized in the province for some months, the new product is a reliable alternative and more pleasant to the taste, due to its mint flavor that implies several advantages over other pharmaceutical forms of presentation.

The specialist highlighted that among the beneficial effects attributed to soy lecithin are the elimination of fats from the organism; favoring digestion, blood circulation, memory; protecting the liver and preventing the formation of gallstones.

It is expected that this year, about 450,000 pills of this compound will be manufactured. This is part of the more than 60 lines of traditional medicine produced in this province, the largest producer of natural medicines in Cuba.

Cholesterol is a lipid found in the eukaryotic plasma membrane, the body tissues of all animals and in the blood plasma of vertebrates.

Although high levels of cholesterol in the blood have detrimental health consequences, it is an essential structural substance for the plasma membrane.

It is abundant in animal fats.

François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallbladder stones in 1769. However, it was not until 1815 that the chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul named the compound «cholesterin.»