CHF, Statins and Coenzyme Q10

[HysteryDiagnosis]

Much much more at link:


http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/feb2008_Alleviating-Congestive-Heart-Failure-With-Coenzyme-Q10_01.htm

Coenzyme Q10 and Congestive Heart Failure

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it became clear that patients suffering from congestive heart failure had measurable deficiency of CoQ10 in both blood and heart muscle, and that the degree of deficiency correlated with the severity of heart failure. Much of this work was performed as a collaborative effort between Professor Karl Folkers, PhD, Gian Paolo Littarru, MD, and Denton Cooley, MD.2 In 1980, my father, cardio-logist Per H. Langsjoen, MD, met with Karl Folkers, and together they performed the first human trial of CoQ10 in the treatment of congestive heart failure in the United States.3 I joined my father as a cardiology fellow in 1983 and after this favorable controlled study was published in 1985, we went on to evaluate the long-term efficacy of CoQ10 therapy in 126 patients with congestive heart failure.4


Figure 1. Statin Therapy, Plasma CoQ10, and Congestive Heart Failure
Coenzyme Q10 and Congestive Heart Failure
This demonstrates the simultaneous drop in
plasma CoQ10 level and ejection fraction in a
70-year-old female patient started on statin therapy.
Note that ejection fraction and CoQ10 level increased
after statin therapy was discontinued.


Congestive heart failure is a condition in which there is weakening of heart muscle function so that fluid or congestion backs up and causes swelling or edema in the liver, lungs, the lining of the intestine, and the lower legs and feet. It was our initial concern that CoQ10 may have been acting as a stimulant that could bring about short-term improvement in heart muscle function but actually increase mortality over time. This is similar to flogging an exhausted horse, making him run faster for a few hundred yards only to promptly drop dead. By following these 126 heart failure patients for six years, it became clear that the improvement in heart function was sustained and that overall mortality was one third of expected.4 It was at this time that we realized CoQ10 represented a major advance in the treatment of a disease that previously could be only palliated and never cured.

[mahina]

1. persuasive!

How can I know that the bottle of COQ10 I bought has any in it though, and how can I discern the quality?
Thanks very much for posting this...

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Some, not many supplement manufacturers employ 3rd party independant

testing labs to verify the content and purity of their products. But from them if possible. I use the Rexall Sundown 50mg Coq10 from Walmart. It is made in Fl. It also has L-Carnitine in it, l-carnitine isn't junk by any stretch of the imagination.

[petersjo02]

3. For a patient on statins,

200 mg/day of CoQ10 is the dosage that will make the most difference. I order mine from Puritan's Pride. They have a Web site where you can order or request a catalog. My ejection fraction after my first heart attack in 1993 was about 50%. I started CoQ10 after seeing an article about it describing a woman who was awaiting a heart transplant. In the interim, she started taking CoQ10. Her heart began to heal and she was taken off the transplant list. About three years later, I had another ultrasound which showed, much to my cardiologist's great surprise, that my EF was in th 73% range, which is normal. All signs of the damage from the heart attack were gone, including the scar it had left. CoQ10 is too often boohooed or dismissed out of hand. It works.

[mahina]

4. WOW!

That is awesome, thank you and congratulations on your healing!

[bpeale]

7. i ended up with nerve damage in my thigh from taking statins without co-q10

then i read an article on the web about doctors in europe & canada never prescribe a statin without also prescribing co-q10. i take 3-50mg gel tabs from sam's club every single day WITH my statin. as long as i take it i don't feel the damage the statin has caused & it allows me to continue to take my statin which i need (cholesterol is over 600 without it! and with Crestor 10mg its only 239). i can't take a higher dose of crestor as it causes the nerve to act up. 239 is just something i will have to live with. but taking co-q10 has been a tremendous help. as long as i complained about the pain in my leg (years), no one ever took it seriously. i look at myself as my doctor's helper. he now recommends co-q10 to others taking statins to avoid the nerve damage i have suffered.

[aquart]

5. CoQ10 is the weirdest most miraculous stuff I ever took.

I get gum infections. Three days of CoQ10 makes them go away. It makes ABCESSES go away. No antibiotics, just buh bye. I have no idea how it works.

But then, I also don't know why lysine works to prevent cold sores showing up.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. For some "unknown" reason, the virus favors an environment in

which Arginine outweighs Lysine. Foods rich in Arginine are said to promote an outbreak. Coenzyme Q10 supports mitochondrial function and hence a more robust immune response.... hence the lack of a need for antibiotics. It also enhances microcapillary growth in the gum area, and extra blood flow, (along with immune cells) is bad for abcesses and gum disease in general.

[aquart]

8. Cool. Thanks.

Of course, you know I was happy with "miracle."