Young AJ, Steffens D, Doraiswamy PM; AcademyHealth. Meeting (2004 : San Diego, Calif.).

Abstr AcademyHealth Meet. 2004; 21: abstract no. 1715.

PREMIER Program Duke University Medical Center, Psychiatry, 114 Crosswood Drive, Durham, NC 27703 Tel. 919.957.7985 Fax 919.681.7504

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of Coenzyme Q10 as an effective treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease. CoQ is involved in enzymatic reactions necessary for oxidative phosphorylation in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Deficiency of CoQ is associated with oxidative DNA and protein damage in nerve cells in-vitro. CoQ has been shown to inhibit atherosclerosis in ApoE knockout mice and to diminish hippocampal damage in animal models of ischemia. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a systematic review of all articles in Medline 1965 to September 2003, to determine the potential benefits of CoQ for preventing and/or treating Alzheimer's disease. POPULATION STUDIED: Elderly patients who were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative mitochondrial disease, and were treated with CoQ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found no published controlled clinical trials of CoQ in AD. To date, there have been four published pilot clinical trials of CoQ for other neurodegenerative disorders involving a total of less than 200 subjects. A sixteen-month multi-center trial of 80 subjects with Parkinson's disease found that, CoQ 300-1200 mg/day, tended to slow progression compared to placebo. Higher doses tended to show greater efficacy. Adverse effects were minimal, and domains that showed benefits were function, motor symptoms and cognition. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited, but emerging evidence that CoQ may be a promising adjunctive therapy for some neurodegenerative disorders. Because mitochondrial dysfunction has been postulated in AD, a randomized controlled trial of CoQ appears warranted. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY, DELIVERY OR PRACTICE: The prevalence of dementia continues to increase, with AD being the most common type. In 1997, it was reported to be the seventh most common cause of death in the US, its incidence doubling every five years. If this rate of morbidity and mortality were to be continued, there will be an overwhelming impact in the near future, considering that the baby-boomers are soon approaching late life. AD is a neurodegenerative disease with known defect in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Oral administration of CoQ10 therefore may show similar promise in patients with AD. Further research to evaluate the effects of CoQ10 in slowing the cognitive decline, and improving quality of life to patients with dementia is warranted.

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Supplementing With CoQ10
May Make Your
High Cholesterol Less Harmful

 

 

CoQ10 May Help Us Do More Than Merely Reduce Cholesterol

 

CoQ10 makes your cholesterol behave differently.

Whenever you and I think about our cholesterol we have one thing in mind. We want to get it low and keep it low.

We can’t be blamed for the way we think. Every conversation we have and every commercial we see tells us the same thing. We are told that if we want to reduce cholesterol risk we must get our total cholesterol down to a certain level.

It is a proper message. But it is not a complete message. It may be the first area of concern but it is not the only thing that should concern us. It is all the commercials tell us. But research has an additional message.

What if there were more we could do? What if we could add something to our current cholesterol management?

What if we could make our high cholesterol less harmful?

Many of us are already doing more to make our cholesterol less harmful. We just may not know it. We are taking vitamin-E for heart health.

 

Here is a tip you may not know. Taking vitamin-E may actually be doing more harm than good. Don’t panic. We will talk about this in a minute. But it is a bit frightening to think that the vitamin-E we take every day may actually be promoting coronary heart disease.

Let’s return to the subject at hand - CoQ10. The first question we should have answered is… 

 

What Is CoQ10 Anyway?

Here is the good news. CoQ10 – or Coenzyme Q10 - is actually a coenzyme which exists naturally in our bodies. It is a precursor to a number of functions that have to do with energy production on the cellular level. In other words, the process that produces energy for our cells to survive and function does not happen without CoQ10.

And without a sufficient supply of CoQ10 the energy producing process does not happen well.

This has enormous implications for heart health. Our large organs are especially vulnerable to insufficient supplies of CoQ10. The heart, which requires so much energy, is particularly susceptible to low levels of CoQ10. It simply does not have enough energy to function properly.

 

I told you the good news. That is, CoQ10 is a naturally occurring coenzyme. But there is a dark cloud in front of the silver lining.

As we age through our thirties we become deficient in CoQ10. This deficiency becomes more pronounced as we mature further.

Therefore our hearts become less able to do their jobs.

Since you and I are concerned with optimal heart health we cannot ignore this.

 

But believe it or not cellular energy for our hearts is not the main topic of this page. There is something else CoQ10 does very well. And it has to do with our cholesterol.