1Supplementing Statin drug use with coenzyme Q10- could help between 125,000 and 575,000 people avoid statin-induced liver dysfunction, cardiomyopathy or congestive heart failure. Julian Whitaker, MD asserts in a May 29, 2002 citizen petition submitted to FDA.
Whitaker suggests that CoQ10 supplementation could help reduce the incidence of these adverse events since it is "an essential element in cellular energy production" and in "the functioning of the heart muscle" due to the heart's extraordinary requirements.
He notes that "the method by which statin drugs work to block cholesterol also causes them to block production of CoQ10". However, oral intake of 100mg to 200mg per day of CoQ10 would help offset this effect of statin treatment, Whitaker maintains.
2CoQ10 has shown great promise in the treatment of heart disease. In one study 12 patients with stable angina pectoris were treated with CoQ10 (150mg/day x 4 weeks) in a double-blind crossover trial. Compated to the placebo, CoQ10 reduced the frequency of angina attacks by 53%.
Source: 2 Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murry N.D. and Joseph Pizzimo N.D. 1991, Amino Acids by Dr. Donsbach, DC, N.D, Ph.D., 1994. 1 Based on data in the 1998 Physicians' Desk Reference indicating that 25 mil. patients use statins worldwide and .5% to 2.3% experience adverse events including myopathies.
