LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

CoQ10

Low HDL Cholesterol? This Supplement Could Protect Your Heart

by

CoQ10 protects the heart
CoQ10 may protect those with low HDL

The cholesterol story continues, but the emphasis placed on total cholesterol is finally fading. Now the heat is up on HDL, or the “good” cholesterol.

It’s almost sad that, after years and years of promoting high cholesterol as a risk factor for heart disease, the medical community has quietly backed off from this mistaken belief that total cholesterol is linked to heart disease.  I should probably clarify that.  Mainstream medicine has finally backed off from the idea of artificially lowering your total cholesterol with drugs actually saves lives.

It is true that those with high cholesterol are at an increased risk of having a heart attack and dying of cardiac causes.  But lowering cholesterol with a drug like Lipitor or Crestor is just short of worthless.  Lowering total cholesterol with lifestyle, however, will absolutely, positively save your life.
[Read more…] about Low HDL Cholesterol? This Supplement Could Protect Your Heart

Coenzyme Q10 in Isolated Systolic Hypertension – (12-17-01)

by

Coenzyme Q10 in Isolated Systolic Hypertension

I just love results like this!! An isolated nutrient like CoQ10 giving an average of 18 point reduction in systolic blood pressure is amazing. Remember that any good natural approach to hypertension would also include exercise, avoidance of refined carbs, increased intake of monounsaturated fats, hawthorne, calcium, magnesium and potassium. There was also a recent study of medically supervised water-only fasting that had dramatic results in lowering blood pressure. Lowering blood pressure naturally is very possibly but needs a strong committment on the part of the patient.

November 2001 SMJ

Read entire article here

Support the immune system to protect the heart – (01-18-01)

by

Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

The use of therapies to modulate the immune system in chronic heart failure is news to me. But this study shows a benefit in a therapy designed to support the immune system, and shows increased function of the left ventricle with this same therapy. Quite an achievement  Add to this other natural therapies to modulate the immune system, exercise and antioxidants such as CoQ10 and I’m sure the results will improve even further.

Circulation — Abstracts: Gullestad et al. 103 (2): 220

Read entire article here

GENETIC RISKS MAY LEAD TO STATIN MYOPATHY – (12-09-04)

by

GENETIC RISK FACTORS FOR STATIN MYOPATHY FOUND; COENZYME Q10, CARNITINE SUPPLEMENTS MIGHT HELP

I will refrain from dancing around saying “I told you so.” I have always noted that I felt the deaths that occurred with Baychol were most likely due to a genetic suseptability to a lower CoQ10 status. The statins are well known to inhibit the production of CoQ10 while it is lowering cholesterol. So, take a person who has a genetically diminished ability to produce CoQ10 and shut that production down. These people literally melted because one of the main protectors against oxidative stress was taken away.

Recent findings have confirmed that this is indeed the pathway that these fatal reactions took. However, what continues to stump me is that researchers would suggest giving CoQ10 and L-carnitine along with the statin drugs. With literally no end to the natural approaches to lowering cholesterol, NONE of which required another natural compound to be used to protect from KILLING the patient, why even think about using statins? This mindset escapes me.

Read entire article here

 

MILD HYPOTHERMIA AFTER CARDIAC ARREST – (12-09-04)

by

COENZYME Q10 COMBINED WITH MILD HYPOTHERMIA AFTER CARDIAC ARREST

We know that the area damaged with an ischemic attack, whether it is a brain attack (stroke) or a heart attack, is actually smaller than the area that ultimately gets damaged. Anything that can be done during the repurfusion stage (when blood is reintroduced back into the oxygen starved area) will shrink the amount of damage done. Magnesium has already been shown to be protective and this study adds Coenzyme Q10 to the list.

This was a small study, but survival rates with CoQ10 was 68%, versus 29% in the placebo. Over twice the survival rates for a (comparitively) cheap and very safe approach. Sadly, studies like this rarely lead to approach changes in our ERs and hospitals. Were it me or my family, I would lock the door and give magnesium and CoQ10 myself. Coenzyme Q10 Combined With Mild Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest: A Preliminary Study — Damian et al. 110 (19): 3011 — Circ..

Read entire article here

STATINS WORSEN ABSENCE SEIZURES- (10-20-04)

by

Lovastatin exacerbates atypical absence seizures with only minimal effects on brain sterols

I was not aware that one of the side effects of the statin drugs was a certain type of seizure in humans. But, considering that the statins lower the production of CoQ10 along with the cholesterol it was supposed to lower, this really is not a surprise. CoQ10 is an important component of energy production, so in tissues like muscle, brain and liver, a drop in CoQ10 levels can have disastrous results.

Lovastatin exacerbates atypical absence seizures with only minimal effects on brain sterols — Serbanescu et al. 45 (11): 203 –

Read entire article here

BLOOD PRESSURE DAMAGES CELL LYING IN ARTERIES – (09-24-03)

by

High Pressure Induces Superoxide Production in Isolated Arteries

Wow! This article suggests that increased blood pressure alone is enough to start a cascade of damage in the cells lining the arteries. Increased super-oxide without ample antioxidants to quench this free radical will result in further damage to the cell. This damage can begin the infiltration of white blood cells that begin plaque formation. This lends more support to the idea of antioxidant supplementation such as Vit C, E and CoQ10 to lower risk of CVD.

Circulation — Abstracts: Ungvari et al. 108 (10): 1253.

Read entire article here

VITAMIN C CAN PROTECT FROM REPURFUSION INJURY – (05-23-05)

by

Hypoxia–reoxygenation-induced mitochondrial damage and apoptosis in human endothelial cells are inhibited by vitamin C

Many people are unaware of this, but with a stroke or heart attack, the area that is initially deprived of oxygen is actually SMALLER than the area that ultimately dies off.  This is because when a cell is starved for oxygen and that oxygen gets rapidly brought back, the cell is not prepared and mitochondrial damage occurs that can result in further cell death.  So, patients in the middle of a heart attack or stroke are frequently given drugs like TPA in the hospital to dissolve out the clot that is blocking blood flow.

We know have much evidence in support of compounds like magnesium, CoQ10 and now vitamin C that can protect from repurfusion injury.  While I do not know personally, I do not believe that giving high doses of these compounds by IV prior to repurfusion is being done on a regular basis.  I’m just not sure if I would be in a position to convey my desire for these compounds prior to repurfusion should I ever end up in this situation.  I would be a nice thing to have tattooed to my forearm, though…

Read entire article here