I take Coenzyme
Q10 for its prevention of muscle pain for statin users:
Treatment of
statin adverse effects with supplemental Coenzyme Q10 and statin drug
discontinuation
According
to study published in Biofactors in
2005, fifty consecutive new cardiology clinic patients who were on statin drug
therapy (for an average of 28 months) on their initial visit were evaluated for
possible adverse statin effects (myalgia, fatigue, dyspnea, memory loss, and
peripheral neuropathy). All patients discontinued statin therapy due to side
effects and began supplemental CoQ(10) at an average of 240 mg/day upon initial
visit.
The
patients were then followed for an average of 22 months with 84% of the
patients followed now for more than 12 months. The prevalence of patient
symptoms on initial visit and on most recent follow-up demonstrated a decrease
in fatigue from 84% to 16%, myalgia from 64% to 6%, dyspnea from 58% to 12%,
memory loss from 8% to 4% and peripheral neuropathy from 10% to 2%. There were
two deaths from lung cancer and one death from aortic stenosis with no strokes
or myocardial infarctions. Measurements of heart function either improved or
remained stable in the majority of patients.
The
researchers concluded that statin-related side effects, including statin
cardiomyopathy, are far more common than previously published and are
reversible with the combination of statin discontinuation and supplemental
CoQ(10).
But Coenzyme
Q10 has lots of other benefits as well:
Coenzyme Q10 Improves Heart Failure Mortality
Coenzyme
Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to the results of a
multicentre randomised double blind trial presented at Heart Failure 2013
congress. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a
decade and should be added to standard treatment, according to lead author
Professor Svend Aage Mortensen (Copenhagen, Denmark).
Heart
Failure 2013 was held from 25-28 May in Lisbon, Portugal. It is the main annual
meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology.
Coenzyme
Q10 (CoQ10) occurs naturally in the body and is essential to survival. CoQ10
works as an electron carrier in the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells,
to produce energy and is also a powerful antioxidant. It is the only
antioxidant that humans synthesise in the body.
CoQ10
levels are decreased in the heart muscle of patients with heart failure, with
the deficiency becoming more pronounced as heart failure severity worsens.
Statins are used to treat many patients with heart failure because they block
the synthesis of cholesterol, but these drugs also block the synthesis of
CoQ10, which further decreases levels in the body.
Double
blind controlled trials have shown that CoQ10 improves symptoms, functional
capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure with no side
effects. But until now, no trials have been statistically powered to address
effects on survival.
The
Q-SYMBIO study (2) randomised 420 patients with severe heart failure (New York
Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV) to CoQ10 or placebo and followed them
for 2 years. The primary endpoint was time to first major adverse cardiovascular
event (MACE) which included unplanned hospitalisation due to worsening of heart
failure, cardiovascular death, urgent cardiac transplantation and mechanical
circulatory support. Participating centres were in Denmark, Sweden, Austria,
Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, India, Malaysia and Australia.
CoQ10
halved the risk of MACE, with 29 (14%) patients in the CoQ10 group reaching the
primary endpoint compared to 55 (25%) patients in the placebo group (hazard
ratio=2; p=0.003). CoQ10 also halved the risk of dying from all causes, which
occurred in 18 (9%) patients in the CoQ10 group compared to 36 (17%) patients
in the placebo group (hazard ratio=2.1; p=0.01).
CoQ10
treated patients had significantly lower cardiovascular mortality (p=0,02) and
lower occurrence of hospitalisations for heart failure (p=0.05). There were
fewer adverse events in the CoQ10 group compared to the placebo group
(p=0.073).
Professor
Mortensen said: "CoQ10 is the first medication to improve survival in
chronic heart failure since ACE inhibitors and beta blockers more than a decade
ago and should be added to standard heart failure therapy."
He
added: "Other heart failure medications block rather than enhance cellular
processes and may have side effects. Supplementation with CoQ10, which is a
natural and safe substance, corrects a deficiency in the body and blocks the
vicious metabolic cycle in chronic heart failure called the energy starved
heart."
CoQ10
is present in food, including red meat, plants and fish, but levels are
insufficient to impact on heart failure. CoQ10 is also sold over the counter as
a food supplement but Professor Mortensen said: "Food supplements can
influence the effect of other medications including anticoagulants and patients
should seek advice from their doctor before taking them."
Patients
with ischaemic heart disease who use statins could also benefit from CoQ10
supplementation. Professor Mortensen said: "We have no controlled trials
demonstrating that statin therapy plus CoQ10 improves mortality more than statins
alone. But statins reduce CoQ10, and circulating CoQ10 prevents the oxidation
of LDL effectively, so I think ischaemic patients should supplement statin
therapy with CoQ10."
Cardiologists examine alternatives to halt high blood pressure
Hypertension
expert John Bisognano, M.D., Ph.D. and
Kevin Woolf, M.D., a cardiology fellow at the Medical Center, conducted the
most comprehensive review to date of the evidence behind a wide range of
non-drug interventions for the treatment of high blood pressure. The review is
featured in the September 2011issue of the Journal
of Clinical Hypertension.
The
shining star among supplements is coenzyme Q10, an enzyme involved in energy
production that also acts as an antioxidant. Patients with hypertension tend to
have lower levels of the enzyme, and a meta-analysis – an overarching analysis
of past studies – found that treatment with coenzyme Q10 supplements
significantly reduced blood pressure.
Woolf
noted that "Coenzyme Q10 has a pretty profound effect on blood pressure,
but whenever research is based on a collection of other data you have to have
some skepticism." Woolf said he still thinks the compound is promising.
Study shows coenzyme Q10 may prevent migraine
A
popular supplement, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), may help prevent migraine, according
to research presented at the American Academy of Neurology 56th Annual Meeting
in San Francisco, Calif., April 24 – May 1, 2004.
Migraine
patients who took 100 mg three times a day of CoQ10--which acts as the body's
energy producer--had fewer attacks in three months than those who took a
placebo. The participants taking CoQ10 also had fewer days with a headache and
fewer days with nausea.
"A
lack of cell energy in the brain may be a cause of migraine," said study
author Peter S. Sandor, MD, University Hospitals Zurich, Switzerland.
"CoQ10 may give a boost to those cells and help prevent migraine."
The
study involved 42 people who suffered an average 4.4 migraine attacks per
month. Approximately 48 percent of those who took CoQ10 had half as many
attacks during the three-month study, while this occurred in only about 14
percent of those taking a placebo.
"We
found that coenzyme 10 had a significant effect on reducing migraine,"
said Sandor. "We also found that the only side effect appeared to be an
allergic skin rash in one patient. This compares with side effects of fatigue,
weight gain, dry mouth, and other side effects found with other methods to
prevent migraine."
Supplemental co-enzyme Q may prevent heart
disease in some individuals
New research in The FASEB
Journal suggests that low birth weight in rats leads to a reduction in
co-enzyme Q in the aorta and that supplemental dosage prevents age-associated
damage leading to heart disease
New research involving rats, and published
in the December 2014 issue of The FASEB
Journal, suggests that if you were born at a low birth weight,
supplemental co-enzyme Q (CoQ) may lower your risk for heart disease. This
enzyme, which is naturally made in the body, is required to ensure the proper
functioning of cell mitochondria and also protects cells from oxidative damage.
Feeding low birth weight rat offspring extra CoQ prevented the age-associated damage
that causes heart disease. Additionally, the reports shows that CoQ is reduced
in white blood cells from low birth weight offspring, and levels of CoQ in the
blood can be an indicator of how much damage to the aorta has already occurred.
"We believe our study provides the
first steps in the development of a routine diagnostic test for blood coenzyme
Q levels which can be used to identify individuals who are at risk of
cardiovascular disease later in life," said Jane L. Tarry-Adkins, a
researcher involved in the work from the Institute of Metabolic Science at the
University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories in the United Kingdom.
"Additionally, simple co-enzyme Q supplements may be able to lower these
individuals risk."
To make their discovery, Tarry-Adkins and
colleagues fed pregnant rats either a control diet or a diet that had the same
total calories but contained less protein and more carbohydrates. The mothers
fed the low protein diet had pups which had a low birth weight but grew quickly
when suckled by a control fed mother. Researchers examined the aorta from the
rats which were born small and grew very quickly after birth and showed that
their cells aged more quickly than those from the normal birth weight offspring
and that this was associated with a deficit in co-enzyme Q, in both the aorta
and in the blood compared to the normal birth weight rats. Administering extra
coenzyme Q in their diet from weaning prevented the accelerated aging of and
damage to their aortas.
"Coenzyme Q is in the drug store now,
but if you think that what you buy is going to keep you from having a heart
attack or stroke, don't get your hopes up just yet," said Gerald
Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "This
promising research was conducted in rats, and if it also applies to people,
still doesn't tell us how much to take, for how long, and if it's safe for
these purposes. We've got a long way to go on this one, but so far, so
good!"
Coenzyme Q10 helps veterans battle Gulf War
illness symptoms
Eighty percent of treated
veterans improved physical function
Roughly one-third of the 700,000 United
States troops who fought in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War have subsequently
developed a distinct set of chronic health problems, dubbed Gulf War illness. Their
symptoms, from fatigue, muscle pain and weakness to decreased cognitive
function and gastrointestinal and skin problems, persist decades after the
conflict.
In a study published in the Nov. 1 issue of Neural
Computation, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School
of Medicine report that a high quality brand of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) – a
compound commonly sold as a dietary supplement – provides health benefits to
persons suffering from Gulf War illness symptoms.
Forty-six United States Gulf War veterans
participated in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Each
veteran had been diagnosed with Gulf War illness.
"Gulf War illness is not the same as
post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, signature illnesses
of later deployments, which are caused by psychological and mechanical injury,
respectively," said Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at UC
San Diego School of Medicine and principal investigator on the study.
"Evidence instead links Gulf War illness to chemical exposures, such as
pesticides or pills given to soldiers to protect them from possible nerve
agents. These chemicals can damage mitochondria, which generate the energy our
cells need to do their jobs. When these powerhouses of the cells are disrupted,
it can produce symptoms compatible with those seen in Gulf War illness."
The connection to chemical and toxin
exposures is fortified by evidence of mitochondrial problems in affected
veterans, said Golomb, as well as evidence showing those veterans who became
ill are significantly more likely than others to harbor genetic variants that
render their enzymes less effective at detoxifying these chemicals.
CoQ10 is a fat-soluble antioxidant made by
the body to support basic cell functions, including directly assisting
mitochondrial energy production. Over a course of three and a half months, the
veterans in the study received a pill form of either CoQ10 or a placebo.
Researchers found 80 percent of those who received 100mg of CoQ10 had improvement
in physical function. The degree of improvement correlated to the degree in
which CoQ10 levels in the blood increased.
The researchers reported that Gulf War
illness symptoms like headaches, fatigue with exertion, irritability, recall
problems and muscle pain also improved.
"The statistical significance of these
benefits, despite the small sample size, underscores the large magnitude of the
effects," Golomb said. "Mounting evidence suggests findings in Gulf
War illness are relevant to toxin-induced health problems in the civilian
sector, so what we learn by studying health challenges of these veterans, will
likely benefit others."
Golomb and colleagues are seeking additional
funding to test a more complete "mitochondrial cocktail," which
combines CoQ10 with additional nutrients that support cell energy and reduce
oxidative damage to cells.
Co-Q10 deficiency may relate to statin drugs, diabetes risk
A
laboratory study has shown for the first time that coenzyme Q10 offsets
cellular changes that may be linked to a side-effect of some statin drugs - an
increased risk of adult-onset diabetes.
Statins
are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, able to reduce LDL,
or “bad” cholesterol levels, and the risk of heart attacks or other cardiovascular
events. However, their role in raising the risk of diabetes has only been
observed and studied in recent years.
The
possibility of thousands of statin-induced diabetics is a growing concern, and
led last year to new labeling and warnings by the Food and Drug Administration
about the drugs, especially when taken at higher dosage levels.
The
findings of the new research were published as a rapid communication in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders,
and offer another clue to a possible causative mechanism of this problem.
Pharmacy
researchers at Oregon State University who authored the study said the findings
were made only in laboratory analysis of cells, and more work needs to be done
with animal and ultimately human studies before recommending the use of
coenzyme Q10 to help address this concern.
“A
number of large, randomized clinical trials have now shown that use of statins
can increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by about 9 percent,” said
Matthew K. Ito, an OSU professor of pharmacy and president-elect of the
National Lipid Association.
“This
is fairly serious, especially if you are in the large group of patients who
have not yet had a cardiovascular event, but just take statin drugs to lower
your risks of heart disease,” Ito said.
A
suspect in this issue has been altered levels of a protein called GLUT4, which
is part of the cellular response mechanism, along with insulin, that helps to
control blood sugar levels. A reduced expression of GLUT4 contributes to
insulin resistance and the onset of type-2 diabetes, and can be caused by the
use of some statin drugs.
The
statins that reduce cholesterol production also reduce levels of coenzyme Q10,
research has shown. Coenzyme Q10 is needed in cells to help create energy and
perform other important functions. And this study showed in laboratory analysis
that if coenzyme Q10 is supplemented to cells, it prevents the reduction in
GLUT4 induced by the statins.
Not
all statin drugs, however, appear to cause a reduction in GLUT4.
The
problems were found with one statin, simvastatin, that is “lipophilic,” which
means it can more easily move through the cell membrane. Some of the most
commonly used statins are lipophilic, including simvastatin, atorvastatin, and
lovastatin. All of these statins are now available as generic drugs, and high
dosage levels have been most often linked with the increase in diabetes.
Coenzyme Q10 and Breast Cancer
Aa reportes in the journal Molecular Aspects of Medicine an
open-label (nonblinded), uncontrolled clinical study in Denmark followed 32
breast cancer patients for 18 months.[4] The disease in these patients had
spread to the axillary lymph nodes, and an unreported number had distant
metastases. The patients received antioxidant supplementation (vitamin C,
vitamin E, and beta carotene), other vitamins and trace minerals, essential
fatty acids, and coenzyme Q10 (at a dose of 90 mg/day), in addition to standard
therapy (surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, with or without
tamoxifen).
The patients were seen every 3
months to monitor disease status (progressive disease or recurrence), and, if
there was a suspicion of recurrence, mammography, bone scan, x-ray, or biopsy
was performed. The survival rate for the study period was 100% (4 deaths were
expected). Six patients were reported to show some evidence of remission;
however, incomplete clinical data were provided, and information suggestive of
remission was presented for only 3 of the 6 patients. None of the 6 patients
had evidence of further metastases. For all 32 patients, decreased use of
painkillers, improved quality of life, and an absence of weight loss were
reported. Whether painkiller use and quality of life were measured objectively
(e.g., from pharmacy records and validated questionnaires, respectively) or
subjectively (from patient self-reports) was not specified.
In
a follow-up of the above study reported in Biochemical
and Biophysical Research Communications, 1 of the 6 patients with a
reported remission and a new patient were treated for several months with
higher doses of coenzyme Q10 (390 and 300 mg/day, respectively). Surgical
removal of the primary breast tumor in both patients had been incomplete. After
3 to 4 months of high-level coenzyme Q10 supplementation, both patients
appeared to experience complete regression of their residual breast tumors
(assessed by clinical examination and mammography).. In the follow-up study
report, the researchers noted that all 32 patients from the original study
remained alive at 24 months of observation, whereas 6 deaths had been expected.
In
another report in Biochemical and
Biophysical Research Communications,
of by the same investigators, 3 breast cancer patients were followed for
a total of 3 to 5 years on high-dose coenzyme Q10 (390 mg/day). One patient had
complete remission of liver metastases (determined by clinical examination and
ultrasonography), another had remission of a tumor that had spread to the chest
wall (determined by clinical examination and chest x-ray), and the third
patient had no microscopic evidence of remaining tumor after a mastectomy
(determined by biopsy of the tumor bed).
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