By Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N., C.N.S., C.B.T.
Adding the nutritional supplement CoQ10 to the routine of chronic heart failure patients reduces complications, hospital readmissions, and mortality rates, and generates significant improvements, according to researchers from Australia, Denmark, India, Poland, Sweden, Italy, and the Slovak Republic. Their two-year double-blind study with 420 patients was announced at the European Society of Cardiology’s 2013 Heart Failure Congress. The researchers concluded that “CoQ10 should be considered as a part of the maintenance therapy” of chronic heart failure patients.
In another 2013 report, Swedish researchers concluded that long-term daily supplementation with CoQ10 and the mineral selenium resulted in reduced deaths among elderly patients with cardiomyopathy, a condition involving the deterioration of the heart muscle that often leads to heart failure. The Swedish study was conducted over a five-year period.
My Viewpoint: This is great news. These are solid scientific confirmations of what I have been seeing for almost three decades in my clinical practice where I have used CoQ10 to successfully improve the health of all my heart patients, including those with heart failure. CoQ10 provides a critical raw material needed by energy-started heart cells. CoQ10 has consistently worked for me and my heart patients.
In both of these studies, the researchers reported substantial lowering of NT-proBNP, a protein that is measured to accurately predict a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and death in patients with known heart disease.
What This Means to You: If you have heart failure or cardiomyopathy, you need to tell your cardiologist about these new developments. Supplementation can make a big difference in how you and your heart function, and will not interfere with a conventional treatment program.
My Recommendation: Take 200-300 mg of CoQ10 in divided doses with meals on a daily basis. For even better results, follow my metabolic cardiology program that features CoQ10, carnitine, ribose, and magnesium – my “awesome foursome” supplement combination that does great things for heart patients.
References:
- Mortensen SA, Kumar A, et al. Teh effect of coenzyme Q10 on morbidity and mortality on chronic heart failure. Results from the Q-SYMBIO study. European Journal of Heart Failure (2013) 15 (S1), S20. Abstract (see 440) at http://spo.escardio.org/SessionDetails.aspx?eevtid=61&fp=440#.Vrf9tPkrKii
- Alehagen U, Johansson P, et al. Cardiovascular mortality and N-terminal-proBNP reduced after combined selenium and coenzyme Q10 supplementation: A 5-year prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial among elderly Swedish citizens. Sept. 1, 2013, Volume 167, Issue 5, Pages 1860–1866. Abstract at http://www.internationaljournalofcardiology.com/article/S0167-5273(12)00593-1/abstract?cc=y=
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