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What Are the Uses for CoQ10?

May 18, 2011 | By Camira Bailey

Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is a fat-soluble antioxidant that is made in your body. It can be found in certain foods, especially beef and pork heart, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, mackerel and sardines. It is also available in supplement form. CoQ10 is used to treat a variety of conditions, including heart conditions, mitochondrial disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders. Although considered safe, CoQ10 does carry some side effects and can interact with certain drugs. Always check with your physician before starting CoQ10 supplementation to avoid adverse effects and potentially fatal drug interactions.

Heart-Related Conditions

Coenzyme Q10 is used to treat a variety of heart-related problems. In congestive heart failure, CoQ10 is used to improve the way the heart muscle contracts, according to a review published in a 2009 issue of "Pharmacology & Therapeutics." It is a vasodilator, meaning it causes the blood vessels in the body to widen, which lowers high blood pressure. Because it is an antioxidant, CoQ10 can prevent and treat cell damage and injury. This makes it useful for preventing and treating ischemic heart disease. It's also shown promise at treating arrhythmias and mitral valve prolapse.

Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Huntington's, respond favorably to treatment with CoQ10. In diseases such as these, nerve cells degenerate, leading to movement disorders and problems with cognitive thinking. Coenzyme Q10 shrinks lesions that develop on the brain and reduces brain lactate levels. It also protects cells in the nervous system from damage and prevents them from dying prematurely, according to a study published in the March 2008 issue of "Journal of Neurochemistry." This may reduce symptoms and prolong life.

Cancer

CoQ10 is often used as an adjuvant drug in the treatment of cancer, especially breast cancer. It can protect healthy cells from chemotherapy induced damage, resulting in a decrease in side effects such as weight loss and fatigue. CoQ10 affects cancer indirectly by boosting the body's immune system and directly by preventing cancer cells from growing, according to the National Cancer Institute. It can improve quality of life by reducing certain cancer symptoms, such as pain.

Other Conditions

CoQ10 is used to treat coenzyme Q10 deficency. This deficiency is very rare and is only found in a small subgroup of people with mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. It has also been used to treat maternally inherited diabetes mellitus and deafness, a rare type of diabetes caused by DNA mutation. CoQ10 does not seem to be effective at treating other types of diabetes. Some people use CoQ10 as an anti-aging supplement and as an athletic performance enhancer, but there is no evidence, however, that it works for these purposes.

References

Article reviewed by Lynda Moultry Belcher Last updated on: May 18, 2011

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