Dad takes coq10 as he also takes low dose statin since many years.
I read someone on this Board write this on an earlier post -
“I was advised not to take CQ10 since it helps the cancer cell recycle glutathione(GHS).
Excess GSH promotes tumor progression, where elevated levels correlate with increased metastasis”
Anyone know more about this subject ? When I do a online search many sites say it is Infact beneficial
while it’s fine to get opinions from our group , even check AIs on the web …… ultimately your final and most important answer would be consulting with your pcp, oncologist and / or pallitive care group. Only your medical team will know all the possible interactions with your father’s treatment plan , along with considerations of his tests and plans of actions. Just IMHO.
Over the last several years, my medical teams have made me change several of the large number of supplements I take daily. My team checks my mds and supplements four times a year.
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my experience generally is mainstream doctors hardly know anything about supplements 😊❤️
You are trusting your father’s life with those same doctors aren’t you ? There can be many circumstances where your suppliments can interfere with or post a health risk . A good example is the popular suppliment lycopene. Lycopene can slow blood clotting when bleeding occurs. If you are taking prescription NSAIDS and develop intestinal bleeding, Lycopene could present a danger trying to get the bleeding to stop.
Taking lycopene along with medications that also slow blood clotting might increase the risk of bruising and bleeding. Web.md
In my quarterly review of my suppliments, with my doctors , they had me quit Lycopene in one consultation, for example.
Just say’in
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Did not know this about lycopene. My MO said oh if you want to take it , it’s ok. I bet he does not know this too. !
Well what you are saying is true but it’s also true that they may not know some things 😊
This is a really good discussion. And it highlights that in taking any supplement, whether elemental or herbal etc., there are many considerations.
As for lycopene I do take it as a supplement. It was hard to eat enough tomatoes every day through the week. I'm satisfied right now that no research indicates that it could be a problem in my situation of metastatic prostate cancer. And there are indications it could be helpful too.
As for the clotting factor that's a very interesting concern. Perhaps related, I noticed that apparently lycopene can be helpful when one has various markers of anemia that are typically associated with metastatic prostate cancer.
I haven't noticed my blood being extra runny in terms of any effect of lycopene. But it's good to be reviewing these things!
Yeah, I trust my longevity with my doctors, I follow their advice. I hope that my supplements help me and they give me a feeling that I’m trying to help myself. If my medical team says they want me to quit this or that, I’m on it. Even tho I do have a technical medical degree, my doctors have a combined decades more education and experience that dwarfs mine, I defer to them. lol. At this point in my own life and treatment, supplements are probably meaningless - pointless anyway.
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Maybe Dave Chappelle should do a thing on supplements and cancer.
And as for doctors knowing a lot, and for sure they do, but let's not forget that they've been promoting this whole business about saturated fat ever since Doctor Ancel Keys faked his seven countries study.
And the Diabetes Association, in consultation with expert doctors, recommends multiple servings of whole grains everyday.
And also PSA testing is a bad thing because people end up being over-treated afterwards. By doctors!
No misunderstanding that I am very grateful that by luck I ended up with great doctors!
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From what I read, you can increase the potency of the tomato by heating it a little and then spreading some black pepper on them. I don't remember by what factor though.
100% Mascouche - apparently cooking the tomatoes results in cell wall breach and then you can access the lycopene. It's probably essential. And it's in nicely with regular cuisine. The challenge is getting enough tomatoes every day! So I went with the supplement.
You can eat tomato paste. One can with every meal.
Exactly. It’s the opposite. This kind of question is the main reason for this group to even exist.
The problem is that doctors in general do not trust the kind of data that support supplements. History tells us that uncontrolled trials are often wrong for a variety of reason. There are very few placebo controlled trials involving supplements. As a consequence your doctor will seem uninformed. This does not mean supplements don’t work. It just means there is limited information both about benefit and side effects. Controlled trials are expensive and there is little financial support for studying supplements unless they are used by lots of people.
And a cynic like me might suggest that doctors can't make money off supplements. I doubt that medical schools provide much coverage of supplements but I could be wrong. I take CoQ10 and magnesium for heart health. I provide a list of all the supplements I take to my PCP and Urologist. They haven't squawked so far.
Actually I think you are 100% wrong. You can sell supplements out if your office and make money. To me it is unethical but many doctors do it. Doctors do not make money writing prescriptions. You are right medical schools don’t cover supplements but the reason is back to the issue of data. The data is so weak that you have a hard to time teaching anyone anything. There is almost no data about side effects. To me anything that is truly effective works because it changes your biochemistry. This will undoubtably have both positive and negative consequences. The body is a teeter totter.
My motto is, unless he needs it to treat a deficiency, don't take it. Your dad's diet should be the source of all necessary nutrition.
Easy to say and makes sense but my diet just isn't very good. Not enough fruits and vegetables for sure. Besides, some things like iodine are likely to be low unless you have something like a Japanese diet.
Table salt with iodine is typically a staple in most restaurants and homes. CoQ10 is found in animal proteins, nuts, etc. eat a balanced diet and you'll have nothing to be concerned with.
I captured this tid-bit online:
"Most of the salt used in commercially prepared foods is not iodized."
Table salt is not enough, in my opinion. I rarely use a salt shaker except on select items like chicken or corn on the cob, etc. I certainly don't use it for either breakfast or lunch. We are encouraged to limit our salt intake too.
It is no secret that some Americans can be deficient in iodine. I take a supplement called iodoral (iodine - oral) to increase my iodine. I've already stated that I don't eat a balanced or particularly good diet. Magnesium is another supplement I take to combat an atrial fibrillation issue. The list goes on. You aren't going to persuade me to give up my supplements.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Not sure what your point is...I stated that unless you're deficient, You say you are deficient so you need a supplement.
And you are so very sure that you aren't deficient ... in any mineral or vitamin? Must be nice. Did you follow the link I provided? It states that iodine deficiency isn't rare and that the problem is growing. You say that an adequate diet is sufficient for all needs. Prove it.
D, B12, Calcium, Potassium, magnesium are always at good levels when tested. Heart function is fine and I get that tested too. My resting heart rate is 55 +/-2 on a daily basis.My energy levels are pretty good considering I'm on mono enzalutimide. My BMD is normal, even after 4+ years of ADT in some form.
I attribute this to eating a balanced diet and getting copious amounts of exercise,
What exercise do you do ? Btw Dr Sartor says b12 supplement is a no no
I weight lift 3-4 times a week. I usually play ice hockey once a week but this year has been an off year for ice hockey for various reasons. I bike ride and in preparing for my up coming hiking trip in the Pyrenees I'm currently Rucking.
quite okay to take. Protects the mitochondria.
Sone say otherwise - for cancers. That’s the confusion
Mateo is pretty smart. I would believe him. I take CoQ10 myself, so there's that.
you need ubiquinol/coq10 supplements if you’re taking statins. Statins reduce coq10 and reduce energy levels in many prone who take statins. Have you seen any studies that say coq10 promotes cancer growth? It’s always possible that it can increase the growth in a small percentage of prostate cancers, but I haven’t found any studies that indicate this to be the case with a significant percentage of men. You could try stopping it’s use to see off the growth rates slows. Certain supplements such as folate sometimes show increased growth but I haven’t found data showing this with ubiquinol or coq10.
Not just statins. Some high blood pressure medications, such as beta-blockers and diuretics, can also lower CoQ10 levels. And they can lower potassium levels as well, which ironically, contributes to high blood pressure. So when on those meds, we may want to eat things with more potassium and more CoQ10.
Can statins lower coq10 levels?
I don't understand why you are asking me "Can statins lower coq10 levels?" when you yourself have written "Statins reduce coq10 and reduce energy levels in many prone who take statins.". Are you second-guessing yourself? 
But to answer you, it surely seems that way. Here is an old study from 2004 which says that the decrease in CoQ10 was evident just 14 days after starting statins: jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...
There is some evidence that statins (Lipitor, Crestor) deplete the cellular supply of CoQ10. So, if one is on a statin, it would be a good supplement to take. Otherwise, I'm not sure it is of any benefit.
So..how does one determine they may be low or deficient of CoQ10? Patients are to quick to pop supplements. I wish my PMP would test regularly for deficiency but he doesn't.
I'm not sure if there is a readily available test. If you are on a statin, you should consider taking that supplement.
This from the FLCCC Alliance group(covid19criticalcare.com/):
Antioxidant supplements (vitamins A, C, and E; coenzyme Q10, and N-acetyl cysteine) should be
avoided in patients with cancer. In an experimental model, Wang et al demonstrated that
vitamin C, vitamin E and n-acetylcysteine (NAC) increased tumor angiogenesis by BACH1
mechanism (redox-sensitive transcription factor BTB and CNC homology 1). (411)These
antioxidants should specifically be avoided in patients undergoing chemotherapy and
radiotherapy, as these interventions act largely by increasing oxidant injury, which is minimized
by antioxidant supplements. (412, 413) Paradoxically, while oral vitamin C is a potent
antioxidant, (414) high-dose intravenous vitamin C generates reactive oxygen species that
potentiates the effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy (see section on intravenous
vitamin C).
Is that just when chemotherapy and radiation is ongoing?
Most of us aren't undergoing chemotherapy or radiation at the moment.
I believe the list is only when underdoing a free radical treatment such as radiation and chemo, not all the time.
That said I also heard that, cancer or not, you should never take Vitamin A supplements and should instead get it from food or cod liver oil. Don't remember the reason exactly.
We all walk slightly different paths. Be absolutely sure that you have a medical team that you trust. I consider myself fortunate in that I have that. I also have the position that I don't want to become the 'expert' in all things medical. I'll leave that to someone else who has spent a lifetime in that profession. So, I keep things simple and leave the big decisions to my medical staff. Having said that:
My experience: I used to take CoQ10, however, about a decade or so ago my cardiologist (heart doctor) told me to stop due to new research then and continues to reinforce that decision ever since. My cardiologist is part of a group that meets weekly to review cases and research, so when he tells me that, I believe him.
That's my path. Godspeed in yours!
PS: I had heart issues (3 stents - still working great) before prostate cancer. Urologist & Oncologist both warned of interactions with Atorvastin when adding ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) meds. However, Cardiologist says keep taking statin as it's still doing something, and he added Zetia.
thanks. So your coq10 was stopped for reasons unrelated to cancer ?
Yes, I think. I cannot answer that for sure. (It was stopped well before prostate cancer diagnosis, but I cannot remember what all the 'blah, blah, blah that went over the top of my brain was. I just remember that data said it would do more harm than good. And that I should throw them away, rather than take them to end of bottles.)
(Unlike most here, I have an inherit fear of anything medical. Typically called 'white coat syndrome' mine is called PTSD. I may look like I'm listening, but I may not really be there. My fear often blocks information into my brain. Simple case of heart over brain!)
Just thought I would share my experience, for whatever it's worth. I have gained quite a bit from this forum and trying to share back!
CoQ10 or no CoQ10. That is the question.
At what time of day to take (or not to take) enzalutamide?
To Cemo or not to Cemo
TO TAKE OR TO WAIT
To post or not to post?
