@gigiv I hear all the time about CoQ10 - along with many other supplements, and tend to let it "go in one ear and out the other." But just this week, I began taking 3 new meds for my heart & cholesterol, and the nurse mentioned that the cardiologist recommends it with these.
Since I also have Bronchiectasis and Asthma, I decided to take a look and see what Mayo says... https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-coenzyme-q10/art-20362602
Hmm, sounds like a good idea with those new meds, but what about my lungs? Well, with a deep dive into Google Scholar, I can see where the research is headed: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17534666231208628
So a few things seem to say CoQ10 is good for asthmatic lungs because it has antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, especially for people on long-term inhaled corticosteroids. But, there have been no specific measurable studies reported yet.
And a couple of studies say the "ubiquinol" (CoQ2) version is more bio-available than ubiquinone (CoQ10). So another deep dive led to this review of hundreds of studies reported in scientific literature over 20 years: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11886-023-01992-6#ref-CR18
Their conclusions? "...In contrast to CoQ10, no CoQH2 study could clearly demonstrate a reduced cardiovascular mortality; (III) the used concentrations are much higher in studies investigating CoQH2.
According to these results, we conclude that based on the medical data available, CoQ10 is the more promising supplement to prevent cardiovascular diseases and to treat patients with heart failure. Further arguments for CoQ10 are the additive effect in combination with selenium [30, 31••] and the reduction of adverse effects of statin therapy by supplementation with CoQ10 [44,45,46]. Additionally, in all clinical trials included in this study, patients proceeded with their previous medication (statins, antihypertensives and others) and no interactions between CoQ10 and medicines could be observed..."
So, after all of this, what do I plan to do? Follow my cardiologist's advice and add a CoQ10+selenium supplement to my diet. I'll probably try 100mg first since I am a small person. And I'll take it with a meal containing some fat or a snack of nuts since it needs fat to be absorbed.
I spoke to a local cardiologist, a woman, who is taking CoQ10 at 200 mg every other day. That sealed the recommendation for me. So, 100 mg per day is apparently good. Even 200 mg daily. I have read where it restores the reduction in systemic CoQ10 that statin medication reduces, so that sounds good. I've read where CoQ10 also reduces arterial plaque or at least stabilizes the formation rate, Pantothenic acid (B-5) is apparently good for reducing arterial plaque as well, but I've not read any clinical studies that confirms it. My PCP also said he has read no info on B-5 being of benefit. Have you ever gotten a broad CT scan of your chest and torso, from lungs to abdomen to see how your arterial plaque situation looks? I have a little plaque around my aortic valve, my carotid arteries and abdominal arteries, but not worrisome. I'm 77 years old and not a doctor.
@gigiv I hear all the time about CoQ10 - along with many other supplements, and tend to let it "go in one ear and out the other." But just this week, I began taking 3 new meds for my heart & cholesterol, and the nurse mentioned that the cardiologist recommends it with these.
Since I also have Bronchiectasis and Asthma, I decided to take a look and see what Mayo says... https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-coenzyme-q10/art-20362602
Hmm, sounds like a good idea with those new meds, but what about my lungs? Well, with a deep dive into Google Scholar, I can see where the research is headed: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17534666231208628
So a few things seem to say CoQ10 is good for asthmatic lungs because it has antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, especially for people on long-term inhaled corticosteroids. But, there have been no specific measurable studies reported yet.
And a couple of studies say the "ubiquinol" (CoQ2) version is more bio-available than ubiquinone (CoQ10). So another deep dive led to this review of hundreds of studies reported in scientific literature over 20 years: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11886-023-01992-6#ref-CR18
Their conclusions? "...In contrast to CoQ10, no CoQH2 study could clearly demonstrate a reduced cardiovascular mortality; (III) the used concentrations are much higher in studies investigating CoQH2.
According to these results, we conclude that based on the medical data available, CoQ10 is the more promising supplement to prevent cardiovascular diseases and to treat patients with heart failure. Further arguments for CoQ10 are the additive effect in combination with selenium [30, 31••] and the reduction of adverse effects of statin therapy by supplementation with CoQ10 [44,45,46]. Additionally, in all clinical trials included in this study, patients proceeded with their previous medication (statins, antihypertensives and others) and no interactions between CoQ10 and medicines could be observed..."
So, after all of this, what do I plan to do? Follow my cardiologist's advice and add a CoQ10+selenium supplement to my diet. I'll probably try 100mg first since I am a small person. And I'll take it with a meal containing some fat or a snack of nuts since it needs fat to be absorbed.
Sue, thank you for this helpful and science based information. I am sorry you struggle with asthma and COPD. That is hard.
My son's severe asthma turned out to be non-celiac gluten intolerance. Off gluten/dairy and a couple of other foods, he has no asthma and is well. Unfortunately, this is often missed.
Two types of tests were valuable. One is a blood test for IgG (not allergy IgE) gluten/gliadin. The other is a stool test for IgA gluten/gliadin. (We also did similar testing for dairy and eggs.)
It feels criminal that these tests aren't regularly used on asthma patients. Instead, allergy IgE testing is done. That was not only unhelpful, but misleading for us.
On our long journey we were told that my son's very high IgG gluten/gliadin blood result didn't mean anything - "He didn't have celiac." Here is my thinking: While he may not have had celiac yet, the blood antibodies have significant meaning. It seems so obvious to me that we shouldn't have high levels of these antibodies to food proteins in our blood because high levels of food proteins shouldn't be in our blood. They should have been broken down into amino acids and then absorbed. Why they trigger asthma in some, skin problems or migraines or villi damage or anxiety/agitation/depression, in others, is unclear to me.
Hope you find the root cause and heal. Again, thank you.
Sue, thank you for this helpful and science based information. I am sorry you struggle with asthma and COPD. That is hard.
My son's severe asthma turned out to be non-celiac gluten intolerance. Off gluten/dairy and a couple of other foods, he has no asthma and is well. Unfortunately, this is often missed.
Two types of tests were valuable. One is a blood test for IgG (not allergy IgE) gluten/gliadin. The other is a stool test for IgA gluten/gliadin. (We also did similar testing for dairy and eggs.)
It feels criminal that these tests aren't regularly used on asthma patients. Instead, allergy IgE testing is done. That was not only unhelpful, but misleading for us.
On our long journey we were told that my son's very high IgG gluten/gliadin blood result didn't mean anything - "He didn't have celiac." Here is my thinking: While he may not have had celiac yet, the blood antibodies have significant meaning. It seems so obvious to me that we shouldn't have high levels of these antibodies to food proteins in our blood because high levels of food proteins shouldn't be in our blood. They should have been broken down into amino acids and then absorbed. Why they trigger asthma in some, skin problems or migraines or villi damage or anxiety/agitation/depression, in others, is unclear to me.
Hope you find the root cause and heal. Again, thank you.
@maryannl, same thing happened to me 30 years ago: severe uncontrollable asthma, multiple trips to e.r., no one ever tested me for gluten intolerance. One day, my 10 years old daughter told me she noticed I always have problems breathing after eating baguette and cereals, I paid attention to what she said, she was right. I went on a gluten free diet, and the severe asthma was gone.
Frustrating that doctors are not trained to test for that.
Best wishes of great health to all of us!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your similar story. What a smart daughter, and good for you for listening and following through. Thirty years ago that was hard. Delighted you are well and have overcome severe asthma.
My son can't have any of the grasses (oats, sorghum, millet, etc.) not just wheat/gluten elimination.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your similar story. What a smart daughter, and good for you for listening and following through. Thirty years ago that was hard. Delighted you are well and have overcome severe asthma.
My son can't have any of the grasses (oats, sorghum, millet, etc.) not just wheat/gluten elimination.
@maryannl I can have a little bit of oats. I am fine with millet. But all I eat has to be organic, it is kind of essential for me. I can't have mushrooms, cheese, anything related to mold. Macademia nuts are the only nuts I can eat. But things have eased up for me in the last 30 years, my diet has expanded as time goes by. I just have to be disciplined. I also watch out for heavy metals. Not easy but for example I don't eat any chocolate unless I know for a fact that it has been tested and is low in heavy metals. I cannot live in a subdivision because most people spray pesticides and herbicides on their lawn and that's really bad for me. My life is good, it's great actually. Very very clean.
Best wishes of great health to your son and you and all of us!
An additional note about selenium-you can get your selenium intake by eating a couple of Brazil nuts daily. They are high in selenium so don’t take if you are also taking a selenium supplement. I’ve read that eating more than 4 a day can be toxic because of too much selenium, so don’t think more is better.
An additional note about selenium-you can get your selenium intake by eating a couple of Brazil nuts daily. They are high in selenium so don’t take if you are also taking a selenium supplement. I’ve read that eating more than 4 a day can be toxic because of too much selenium, so don’t think more is better.
We had a friend who used to run the selenium lab at NIH. He told us no more than 2 Brazil nuts/day because of what you indicate - toxicity. When I research selenium it seems to be in a lot of foods we consume. Thank you for creating awareness on this.
@maryannl I can have a little bit of oats. I am fine with millet. But all I eat has to be organic, it is kind of essential for me. I can't have mushrooms, cheese, anything related to mold. Macademia nuts are the only nuts I can eat. But things have eased up for me in the last 30 years, my diet has expanded as time goes by. I just have to be disciplined. I also watch out for heavy metals. Not easy but for example I don't eat any chocolate unless I know for a fact that it has been tested and is low in heavy metals. I cannot live in a subdivision because most people spray pesticides and herbicides on their lawn and that's really bad for me. My life is good, it's great actually. Very very clean.
Best wishes of great health to your son and you and all of us!
Staying away from both heavy metals and pesticides seems wise. You are also right about chocolate and heavy metals - can be high in cadmium and lead. What a travesty.
(Salt, too, can be high in lead.)
Happy to hear that you are well and that your food options have expanded as you have healed and continue to avoid root problem foods.
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I spoke to a local cardiologist, a woman, who is taking CoQ10 at 200 mg every other day. That sealed the recommendation for me. So, 100 mg per day is apparently good. Even 200 mg daily. I have read where it restores the reduction in systemic CoQ10 that statin medication reduces, so that sounds good. I've read where CoQ10 also reduces arterial plaque or at least stabilizes the formation rate, Pantothenic acid (B-5) is apparently good for reducing arterial plaque as well, but I've not read any clinical studies that confirms it. My PCP also said he has read no info on B-5 being of benefit. Have you ever gotten a broad CT scan of your chest and torso, from lungs to abdomen to see how your arterial plaque situation looks? I have a little plaque around my aortic valve, my carotid arteries and abdominal arteries, but not worrisome. I'm 77 years old and not a doctor.
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1 ReactionSue, thank you for this helpful and science based information. I am sorry you struggle with asthma and COPD. That is hard.
My son's severe asthma turned out to be non-celiac gluten intolerance. Off gluten/dairy and a couple of other foods, he has no asthma and is well. Unfortunately, this is often missed.
Two types of tests were valuable. One is a blood test for IgG (not allergy IgE) gluten/gliadin. The other is a stool test for IgA gluten/gliadin. (We also did similar testing for dairy and eggs.)
It feels criminal that these tests aren't regularly used on asthma patients. Instead, allergy IgE testing is done. That was not only unhelpful, but misleading for us.
On our long journey we were told that my son's very high IgG gluten/gliadin blood result didn't mean anything - "He didn't have celiac." Here is my thinking: While he may not have had celiac yet, the blood antibodies have significant meaning. It seems so obvious to me that we shouldn't have high levels of these antibodies to food proteins in our blood because high levels of food proteins shouldn't be in our blood. They should have been broken down into amino acids and then absorbed. Why they trigger asthma in some, skin problems or migraines or villi damage or anxiety/agitation/depression, in others, is unclear to me.
Hope you find the root cause and heal. Again, thank you.
@maryannl, same thing happened to me 30 years ago: severe uncontrollable asthma, multiple trips to e.r., no one ever tested me for gluten intolerance. One day, my 10 years old daughter told me she noticed I always have problems breathing after eating baguette and cereals, I paid attention to what she said, she was right. I went on a gluten free diet, and the severe asthma was gone.
Frustrating that doctors are not trained to test for that.
Best wishes of great health to all of us!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your similar story. What a smart daughter, and good for you for listening and following through. Thirty years ago that was hard. Delighted you are well and have overcome severe asthma.
My son can't have any of the grasses (oats, sorghum, millet, etc.) not just wheat/gluten elimination.
@maryannl I can have a little bit of oats. I am fine with millet. But all I eat has to be organic, it is kind of essential for me. I can't have mushrooms, cheese, anything related to mold. Macademia nuts are the only nuts I can eat. But things have eased up for me in the last 30 years, my diet has expanded as time goes by. I just have to be disciplined. I also watch out for heavy metals. Not easy but for example I don't eat any chocolate unless I know for a fact that it has been tested and is low in heavy metals. I cannot live in a subdivision because most people spray pesticides and herbicides on their lawn and that's really bad for me. My life is good, it's great actually. Very very clean.
Best wishes of great health to your son and you and all of us!
An additional note about selenium-you can get your selenium intake by eating a couple of Brazil nuts daily. They are high in selenium so don’t take if you are also taking a selenium supplement. I’ve read that eating more than 4 a day can be toxic because of too much selenium, so don’t think more is better.
We had a friend who used to run the selenium lab at NIH. He told us no more than 2 Brazil nuts/day because of what you indicate - toxicity. When I research selenium it seems to be in a lot of foods we consume. Thank you for creating awareness on this.
Great detective work! And yes to discipline. 🙂
Staying away from both heavy metals and pesticides seems wise. You are also right about chocolate and heavy metals - can be high in cadmium and lead. What a travesty.
(Salt, too, can be high in lead.)
Happy to hear that you are well and that your food options have expanded as you have healed and continue to avoid root problem foods.