Tag: coenzyme Q10

Cholesterol reducing pills: Do they have a downside?

Claus Hancke

August 3, 2005

Medications taken against cholesterol may prolong life in the event of arteriosclerosis and perhaps even heart failure. However, new figures seem to indicate that many patients get serious side effects from taking such medications, which side effects could have been avoided had they also taken Co-enzyme Q10.

Millions of people worldwide use cholesterol reducing medicine in the form of statins. These people most often have clogged coronary arteries and the statins are used to protect them against further atherosclerosis, blood clots, and strokes. They work, but to a lesser degree than many people think.

If they are given to one hundred 40-80 year old people who are at high risk due to atherosclerosis or diabetes, they prevent about one coronary blood clot or one stroke per year. In the course of five years, about two deaths are avoided.

Many of the treated meanwhile develop heart failure, which is reduced pump function of the heart, because atherosclerosis damages the heart muscle permanently. They begin to complain of tiredness and increasing shortness of breath.

Is it risky to take cholesterol lowering pills in this situation? There can be debated. The debate is due to the way that the medicine works. It blocks the livers production of mevalonic acid, which is necessary for the production of cholesterol, but it also blocks the production of vital Q10! Not only does the blood’s cholesterol level fall, but also the bloods Q10 level.

Because Q10 is necessary for the tissues to create energy it is easy to imagine that a heart muscle which is weakened by heart failure, is further weakened when Q10 is removed.

Apparently statins work anyway. Statins are believed to lengthen life in heart failure. Not because they lower cholesterol, which may actually be damaging when suffering from heart failure, but because statins have other effects than reducing cholesterol. They are antioxidants and counteract inflammation. In addition they promote the creation of new blood vessels in the heart. None of these effects have anything to do with cholesterol.

Maybe the positive effects of statins outweigh the dramatic Q10 loss that they cause. Nonetheless, it is hard to believe that this loss is completely harmless, especially with heart failure.

The American cardiologist P.H. Langsjoen is one of those who warn that we find ourselves in an epidemic of heart failure with unclear reasons and who believe that statins could be one of the reasons.

At a congress in Los Angeles he put forth data which indicates previously unrecognised side effects. Two thirds of 51 newly referred statin treated patients complained of muscle pain, more than 80% were abnormally tired, and almost 60% had shortness of breath. When they stopped using statins and instead received Q10 (240 mg/day), most became symptom free.

At the same congress a randomised trial showed that muscle pain and tiredness was present in one out of every ten on those treated with statins, but disappeared when they took Q10 (100 mg/day). Just as important, more than half experienced an improved quality of life and many showed improved heart function.

Pills against cholesterol lengthen life, but it is necessary to take Q10 if quality of life also increases so that a longer life is a life worth living.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group. MRC/BHF Heart Protection Study of cholesterol lowering with simvastatin in 20 536 high-risk individuals: A randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2002;360:7-22.
2. Langsjoen PH et al. The clinical use of HMG CoA-reductase inhibitors and the associated depletion of coenzyme Q10. A review of animal and human publications. Biofactors. 2003;18(1-4):101-11.
3. Liao JK. Statin therapy for cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. J Investig Med. 2004 May;52(4):248-53.
4. Bandolier. Statins in heart faikure. http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/cardiac/statHF.html
5. Fourth Conference of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association. Los Angeles April 14-17 2005.

www.thelancet.com
www.iospress.nl/html/09516433.php
journalseek.net/cgi-bin/journalseek/journalsearch.cgi
www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/cardiac/statHF.html
www.coenzymeq10.it/home.html
www.iom.dk

Cholesterol Medicine Halves the Amount of Coenzyme Q10 in the Blood

Claus Hancke

August 16, 2004

Heart specialists normally shrug off the suggested recommendation that patients treated with cholesterol lowering drugs must take Coenzyme Q10. While it is common knowledge that such medicine interferes with the body’s ability to create Coenzyme Q10, and that Q10 is essential for life, conventional medical thinking still holds that supplementation is superfluous because of the belief that medical treatment is effective and increases life span!

Now this conventional thinking is being challenged by new studies showing that one of the most commonly used cholesterol lowering medicines not only decreases but actually halves the amount of Coenzyme Q10 in the blood. This was shown in a study sponsored by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the company behind the drug atorvastatin (Zarator). Atorvastatin is one of the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Q10 is the well-known antioxidant, which is also necessary for the cells to produce energy. Q10 is produced in the organism, but it is also found in the diet, where beef, soy, mackerel, herring and sardines in particular are good sources. With age, the organism’s own production decreases, and the content of Q10 in the blood decreases.

The new study was conducted at Columbia University in New York at a center for patients with cerebral hemorrhage. Here, 34 patients had their Q10 levels in their blood measured before they were given atorvastatin. Just 14 days later, their Q10 levels in their blood had certainly decreased. After 30 days, it had been halved!

Even though no one noticed the change, it was so striking that the group behind the trial recommends routine supplementation with Q10 when treated with atorvastatin and other “statins.” This means that almost everyone who is being treated for high cholesterol is advised to take a supplement.

In a statement, it was said that the study explains the most common side effects of “statins”, namely muscle pain, muscle fatigue and reduced physical performance! Q10’s extensive lack of toxicity was highlighted as an additional reason to take it!

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Rundek T, Naini A, Sacco R, Coates K, DiMauro S. Atorvastatin decreases the coenzyme Q10 level in the blood of patients at risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Arch Neurol. 2004;61(6):889-92.

archneur.ama-assn.org
www.iom.dk

Q10 Prevents Migraine

Claus Hancke

July 26, 2004

The antioxidant Q10 is an efficient remedy for the treating of migraine without side effects. This has been demonstrated by Swiss researchers at the University Hospital in Zürich. The discovery was presented in San Francisco at a congress for neurologists immediately prior the summer holidays.

The Swiss study is the second successive study to show that Q10 prevents migraine. Two years ago, the treatment was tested in a so-called open trial at Jefferson University of Pennsylvania.

32 severely affected migraine patients were included – they had an average of eight migraine attacks a month. During the course of three months, they were each given 150 mg. of Q10 a day and the frequency of migraine attacks were gradually reduced to less than three a month.

The result from Pennsylvania made such a big impression that a more thorough study was found necessary. This study has now been completed in Switzerland as a randomized trial with 42 participants. Before the trial, the participants suffered an average of 4-5 migraine attacks a month.

During the trial, 50% of the participants were given placebo while the other 50% were given 300 mg. of Q10 divided into three doses a day. After three months, 48% of the ones who had been given Q10 had achieved a 50% reduction in the frequency of migraine attacks while only 14% of the placebo group achieved the same effect. As a net result, 36% had substancially benefited from the treatment. A result of this magnitude can certainly be compared with the best working of the presently used treatments.

The leader of the Swiss trial, the neurologist Peter S. Sandor, underlines the absence of adverse effects as a decisive factor – particularly to young women who might fear that the conventional treatment could have teratogenic effects.

However, the result also opens up to other interesting perspectives in the understanding of migraine. Q10 is a natural substance necessary to the cells’ energy production and the theory behind the study is that migraine may be caused by a lack of chemical energy in the nerve cells.

According to David Dodick, professor in neurology at the respected Mayo clinic in Arizona, this new study was well performed and the result is statistically robust. He believes that Q10 can be an attractive form of treatment to those who prefer a natural alternative to prescription drugs.

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Sandor P. et al. Water-soluble Coenzyme Q10 demonstrates significant migraine prophylaxis. American Academy of Neurology. 56th Annual Meeting: Abstract S43.004, 2004.

www.aan.com/professionals
www.iom.dk

Feel Safe to Use Ginkgo biloba

Claus Hancke

June 24, 2004

A large number of people use this natural remedy on account of its ability to improve memory. This ability has been documented in numerous studies, including British ones. According to the press, the WHO is quoted for having warned against a danger of hemorrhage when Ginkgo biloba is consumed together with anticoagulants.

There are reports of two deaths and a number of non-fatal bleedings from a total of 22 countries. The suspicion is that Ginkgo biloba enhances the effect of the anticoagulants.

Anticoagulants themselves involve a serious risk of internal bleedings, and every year, hundreds of people die as a result of taking anticoagulants. Therefore, without a scientific investigation, it is impossible to know whether it is Ginkgo biloba, the anticoagulants, or solely a combination of both that is responsible.

Every year, several hundred people – in Scandinavia alone – die from this inevitable side effect of anticoagulants, but a great many more are saved by it. The fact that some of the people who have suffered a cerebral haemorrhage have used Ginkgo biloba at the same time, in no way proves that the combination is risky.

More than 30 medicaments in general use can either fortify or weaken the effect of anticoagulants. Both situations can be highly dangerous. Examples of medicine that fortify the effect of anticoagulants are sulpha drugs used against cystitis, a number of antibiotics, and common painkillers like aspirin.

Kale, chicory, spinach, and many other vegetables also affect the treatment. That Ginkgo biloba should affect the treatment, however, has been repudiated in the only serious study performed to date. It is of Danish origin and was published in the Danish Weekly Magazine for Medical practitioners last year.

In a double-blind, randomized trial it was established that neither Ginkgo biloba nor co-enzyme Q10 had any influence on the haemorrhagic tendency in the 24 participants who were all being long-term treated with warfarin which is the most commonly used anticoagulant.

Unfortunately, anticoagulants do involve a risk of internal bleedings. This is unevitable. However, there is nothing to indicate that the this risk should be increased by taking Ginkgo biloba. On the contrary; present knowledge indicates the opposite!

Professor Ralph Edwards of the WHO Monitoring Centre in Uppsala, Sweden, feels abused by the press in this matter, as he says:
“We have NOT warned against Ginkgo biloba. There is no news in the statement of the WHO which is only a press release about new guidelines on information regarding dietary supplements and natural medicine. It is not even very likely that Ginkgo biloba should interact with anticoagulants, but it is common sense not to use a vasodilating supplement together with anticoagulants or in relation to an operation.”

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Ugeskr Laeger. 2003;4;28;165(18):1868-71. [Effect of Coenzyme Q10 and Ginkgo biloba on warfarin dosage in patients on long-term warfarin treatment. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial].

Also see the original press release of the WHO.

www.dadlnet.dk
www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr44/en
www.iom.dk

Coenzyme Q10, Research references

Admin

January 1999

1. Battino M, Fato R, Lenaz G: Coenzyme Q10 can control the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation.; Int J Tissue React 12, no. 3, pp. 137-144, 1990.
2. Chen Rou-Shayn et al. Coenzyme Q10 treatment in mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. Eur Neurol 37:212-18, 1997.
3. Folkers K et al. Biochemical rationale and the cardiac response of patients with muscle disease to therapy with coenzyme Q10. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 82;13:4513-16, 1985.
4. Folkers K, Wolaniuk J, Sinonsen R, et al, in K. Folkers, Y Yamamura, Eds. Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10, Vol. 5. Amsterdam, Elsevier Science Pub. 353-8, 1985
5. Folkers K, Vadhanavikit S, Mortensen SA. Biochemical rationale and myocardial tissue data on the effective therapy of cardiomyopathy with coenzyme Q10. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1985;82:901-4
6. Folkers K, Langsjoen P, Nara Y, et al. Biochemical deficiencies of coenzyme Q10 in HIV-infection and exploratory treatment. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 153:888-96, 1988.
7. Folkers K, Hanioka T, Xia LJ, et al. Coenzyme Q10 increases T4/T8 ratios of lymphocytes in ordinary subjects and relevance to patients having the AIDS-related complex. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 176; (2):786-91, 1991.
8. Folkers K, Morita M, McRee Jr. J. The activities of coenzyme Q10 and vitamin B6 for immune response. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 193: 88-92, 1993.
9. Fryburg DA et al. The immunostimulatory effects and safety of beta-carotene in patients with AIDS. VIIIth Int Conf on AIDS, Amsterdam, 1992.
10. Sato K. Pharmacoklinetics of coenzyme Q10 in recovery of acute sensorineural hearing loss due to hypoxia. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl (Stockh.) 458: 95-102, 1988.
11. Simonsen R, Folkers K, Komorowski J, et al, in K Folkers, GP Littarru, T Yamagami, Eds. Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10, Volume 6. Amsterdam, Elsevier Science Publ., 363-73, 1991.
12. Sobreira C et al. Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with coenzyme Q10 deficiency. Neurology 48:1238-43, 1997.
13. Yamabe H, Fukuzaki H, in K Folkers, GP Littarru, Y Yamagami, Eds. Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10, Vol. 6. Amsterdam, Elsevier Sci Pub., 1991: 541-5, 1991.
14. Zeppilli P, Merlino B, DeLuca A, et al, in K Folkers, GP Littarru, Y Yamagami, Eds. Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10, Volume 6. Amsterdam, Elsevier Science Pub. 541-5, 1991.
15. Judy, W.V., Folkers, K.A., & Stogsdill, W.W. (1993). Myocardial preservation by therapy with Coenzyme Q10 during heart surgery. Clinical Investigator; 71(8 Suppl): S155-61.
16. Morisco, C., Trimarco, B., & Condorelli, M. (1993). Effect of Coenzyme Q10 therapy in patients with congestive heart failure: a long-term multicenter randomized study. The Clinical Investigator, 71(8 Suppl), S134-S136.

 

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