There is no evidence that CoQ10 can prevent ALS, and the studies that examined its potential as a treatment produced conflicting results. It's very hard to make any predictions about what may prevent ALS because doctors don't know what causes it nor how to cure the disease. ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is a devastating affliction because it produces paralysis and many patients die within five years of diagnosis. However, researchers do have dietary advice for ALS prevention.
Promising Results
Columbia University is host to an ALS Research Center named after the baseball hero Lou Gehrig who died of ALS in 1941. In July 2001, the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center announced results of a Phase I trial it had conducted to investigate the efficacy of CoQ10 as a treatment. The trial involved 16 patients and lasted for five months. Nine patients completed the study, and in six of these, their degree of motor function decline was 50 percent less than what was expected without CoQ10 intervention. The Center found the results promising enough to move forward into a Phase II trial.
Phase II Trial Results
The Phase II trial results were reported in the August 2009 issue of the "Annals of Neurology." The trial was conducted in two stages. In Stage 1, researchers compared a dose of 1,800 mg to 2,700 mg CoQ10 in 35 participants for nine months to determine which dose showed the most promise. After selecting the 2,700 mg dose, 150 patients were randomized to receive either 2,700 mg CoQ10 or placebo daily for the next nine months. At the study's end, the CoQ10 group fared no better than the placebo group and the researchers abandoned further investigation.
Disappointing Results
The ALS division of the Muscular Dystrophy Association reported the Phase II trial on its website and included comments from the study's principal investigator, Petra Kaufmann. Dr. Kaufmann stated that CoQ10 had held hope as a treatment because it acts in the mitochondria, the "powerhouses" of motor neurons and CoQ10 is also a powerful antioxidant. Mitochondrial dysfunction and free radical damage are major contributors to the disease's progression. While expressing disappointment over the trial's results, she also noted the results free ALS patients from believing they have to buy CoQ10, and frees financial resources to test other drugs.
Dietary Advice
Although CoQ10 can't prevent ALS, researchers reporting in the April 2009 edition of "Neuro-Epidemiolgy" found that an antioxidant rich diet significantly reduces risks of developing the disease. They compared the diets of 153 ALS patients with the diets of 306 controls and found that those who ate the most fruits and vegetables had the lowest risk. Research published in the April 2007 issue of the "Journal of Neurology" compared the diets of 184 ALS patients to controls and found that a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E reduced risk by 50 percent to 60 percent.
References
- ALS Association Research: CoQ10
- "Annals of Neurology"; Phase II Trial of CoQ10 for ALS Finds Insufficient Evidence to Justify Phase III; Petra Kaufmann et al.; August 2009
- "MDA Research"; High-Dose Coenzyme Q10 Shows No Benefit in ALS; Staff Reporter; April 23, 2008
- "Neuroepidemiology"; Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Japan; Kaya Okamoto et al.; April 2009
- "Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry"; Intake of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Vitamin E Reduces the Risk of Developing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; J. Veldink et al.; April 2007
Member Comments