Your heart is a four-chambered pump that pushes blood into a system of tubes -- your arteries, capillaries and veins -- which eventually lead back to the pump itself. Heart failure occurs when your heart can no longer efficiently force blood through the system. Heart failure is usually accompanied by signs and symptoms of congestion, such as shortness of breath, fatigue or swollen feet. There is some evidence that coenzyme Q10, commonly referred to as CoQ10, can alleviate the symptoms of congestive heart failure, but you should check with your doctor to see if CoQ10 is appropriate for you.
Causes
According to "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy," a variety of conditions and factors can contribute to heart failure. A lack of oxygen delivery to your heart muscle -- usually the result of coronary artery disease -- viral or bacterial infections, metabolic disorders, heart valve abnormalities, chronic high blood pressure or autoimmune diseases are common causes of heart failure. These conditions either damage your heart muscle directly or interfere with its mechanical ability to contract normally, thereby diminishing its pumping capacity. Your heart needs CoQ10 to produce the energy it requires to perform its work.
Stages
Depending on your degree of impairment and the severity of your symptoms, heart failure can be categorized according to a system devised by the New York Heart Association. This system, which helps doctors determine the best treatment for your condition, places you into one of four heart failure stages, with NYHA Class IV being the worst. People with this degree of heart failure have shortness of breath, palpitations, fatigue or chest pain even when they are at rest. A 2003 literature review published in "BioFactors" suggested that CoQ10 could prove useful at all stages of heart failure.
Mechanism
CoQ10 is a fat-soluble, vitaminlike compound that is essential for normal energy production in your mitochondria, where it participates in the generation of high-energy molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). According to the May 2008 issue of the "Clinical Biochemist Reviews," reduced concentrations of CoQ10 have been demonstrated in patients with heart failure, and the degree of deficiency is directly related to the severity of failure. Furthermore, the reviewers say, multiple studies have shown that supplementation with CoQ10 has led to improvement in symptoms and reductions in hospitalizations of heart failure patients.
Considerations
CoQ10 is essential for optimal energy production in the cells of your heart, and patients with heart failure frequently exhibit lower than normal CoQ10 levels. Supplementation with CoQ10 has shown some promise in alleviating heart failure symptoms in human clinical trials, but the optimal doses and formulations are still unclear, partly because different formulations of CoQ10 vary in their quality and absorption. One multinational trial involving 550 heart failure patients employed CoQ10 doses of 100 mg three times daily. Consult your physician before you take CoQ10 for any medical condition.
References
- "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 18th Edition: Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies"; Mark H. Beers, M.D., Editor-in-Chief; 2006
- "BioFactors"; Overview on Coenzyme Q10 as Adjunctive Therapy in Chronic Heart Failure. Rationale, Design and End-points of 'Q-SYMBIO' -- A Multinational Trial"; S.A. Mortensen; 2003
- "The Clinical Biochemist Reviews"; Coenzyme Q10: Is There a Clinical Role and a Case for Measurement?; S.L. Molyneux, et al.; May 2008
