CoQ10 Benefits?

[Elam]

Has anyone heard of beneficial effects of CoQ10 on CLL? I had to start taking Crestor (5mg 4 times a week) and am taking 400 mg mg of CoQ10 daily at the advice of phy. After 4 months my hmg. went from 12.0 to 12.8 and my cholesterol dropped from 260 to 202. WBC went up some but everything else pretty steady.

[Shedman]

What I have read..

Ubiquinol (in varied states from reduced through oxidised) is found in every cell of the body; it is especially concentrated where the most energy is required or utilised, eg. Brain, heart, liver, kidneys..

- not read anything CLL related on Ubiquinol (reduced form) / nor Co-EnzymeQ10 (oxidised form) --- same substance, where reduced form is more effective at correcting bodily deficit, as it requires less energetic biochem on the part of the body.

- ubiquinol helps anyone over say 40 years old; there are dietary sources of ubiquinol, organ meat being far richer source than chicken leg meat or steak, but our biochem recycles ubiquinol - from oxidised to reduced being an energy requiring process, which is not going to happen so well in someone with CFS/ME/chronic fatigue.. We get less efficient at ubiquinol recycling (and much other biochem) as we get older.

- ubiquinol recycling is adversely affected by statins.. They hinder some aspects of the recycling pathways. But the supplement of choice here, if more expensive maybe 10x better absorbed or utilised, is ubiquinol, the reduced form..

But I have also read that statins are probably rarely beneficial. That cholesterol is a complex subject, but that big pharma profits heavily influence the health guidelines.. All the panel in USA have interests in statin pharmaceutical making companies. One statin is the most profitable drug in the World, making $125billion a year for the last 9 years..

200mg/DL sounds maybe optimal.. Lower is not better from there IMO - I am not a doctor.

[ggdawlin in reply to Shedman]

I have been using Ubiquinol for years recommended by a health advisor. I get all my supplements from Swanson, they are reasonable.

swansonvitamins.com/swanson...

[HannahHugo]

Elam, I don’t have CLL but have had heart problems since 1997.

I am on CoQ10 150 mg daily which is my own recommendation after cardiologist mentioned it may be worth trying.

CoQ10 in my case protects against statin muscle pain. I have had to cease Lipitor then Crestor due to said pain. I am now on pravastatin 40 mg daily.

My total cholesterol is 3.7 or 142 in your units whereas it was 2.9 on Crestor 20 mg.

I have 6 monthly blood tests and cholesterol readings fluctuate from test to test so I wouldn’t read too much into your minor changes.

Statins do decrease your bodies production of CoQ10 which is why your physician would have recommended it.

When someone like Shedman starts to talk about big pharma and doubtful benefit of statins I just remind myself I had double bypass surgery at the age of 52 due to a blocked heart artery and here I am still fit and well at 72.

If your physician prescribed you to take a statin then stick with it.

[Shedman in reply to HannahHugo]

Fair comments in response to mine, except that I never said 'doubtful benefits' in relation to statins. I said that statins are 'probably rarely beneficial'

So, where millions of people take statins, a rare benefit will benefit some hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. It seems likely, with your history, that you are one of those benefiting..

..so, obviously, with clear reason for statins, keep taking them.

In more general terms, where health is good to begin with and there is no over-riding reason to have statins prescribed, cholesterol below 3.5 (UK score, ~145-150 USA scoring) is linked with increased all cause mortality in the elderly.

However, the block to arteries is not likely to be cholesterol -- my understanding is that it is lipoproteins.. It's a complex topic with good science jockeying for position with a lot of, let me term it politely, misinformation.

The enemy of health -- from that good science angle -- appears to be the combination of excess carbohydrate and resulting production of necessary levels of insulin.. The glucose (and fructose) resulting from digestion of carbohydrates has to be kept below toxic levels in the blood (where toxic = damaging.. Eg. The same damage that occurs in uncontrolled diabetes) and the science seems to posit that insulin is also damaging, if necessary. But I am just airing a flavour of my reading and not quoting any papers to support it. Lazy? Maybe. Sorry.

[Big_Dee]

I think CoQ10 is really over hyped. I am currently in B+R treatment for my CLL and one of my restrictions is no CoQ10 as it is an anti-oxidant. I currently take cholesterol meds prescribed by my GP. I also took CoQ10 at my GP suggestion. After being diagnosed with CLL in Sept 2017, I took a hard look at all the meds, vitamins, supplements I was taking. The FDA requires that doctors report any medical conditions which occur when using different meds. After reviewing side effects listed for CoQ10 and fish oil, I stopped taking both. I do not have heart problems and have had this verified by recent echocardiogram and angiogram. I am 71 years old and very active. At this point I am not sure taking the cholesterol meds is worth the possible damage to my liver and muscles.

[Shedman in reply to Big_Dee]

I'm not taking ubiquinol. I'd forgotten the negatives, and my B+R will also benefit from my not taking it. Good to know. Though I have my own set of morbidities guiding what is likely wise/best.. Ain't our health complicated, especially with this heterogeneous CLL stuff..