Posted on 09/21/2009 3:43:16 PM PDT by decimon
Can an over-the-counter vitamin-like substance slow the progression of Parkinson's disease?
Rush University Medical Center is participating in a large-scale, multi-center clinical trial in the U.S. and Canada to determine whether a vitamin-like substance, in high doses, can slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about one million people in the United States.
"At present, the very best therapies we have for Parkinson's can only mask the symptoms – they do not alter the underlying disease," said neurologist Dr. Katie Kompoliti, a specialist in movement disorders. "Finding a treatment that can slow the degenerative course of Parkinsons's is the holy grail of Parkinson's research."
The substance being tested, called coenzyme Q10, is produced naturally in the body and is an important link in the chain of chemical reactions that produce energy in mitochondria, the "powerhouses" of cells. The enzyme is also a potent antioxidant – a chemical that "mops up" potentially harmful chemicals generated during normal metabolism.
Several studies have shown that Parkinson's patients have impaired mitochondrial function and low levels of coenzyme Q10. Moreover, laboratory research has demonstrated that coenzyme Q10 can protect the area of the brain damaged in Parkinson's.
The Phase III clinical trial, a large, randomized study with a control group, follows an earlier investigation that tested several doses of coenzyme Q10 in a small group of patients with early-stage Parkinson's disease. The highest dose, 1,200 mg, appeared promising. Over the course of 16 months, patients taking this dose experienced significantly less decline than other patients in motor (movement) function and ability to carry out activities of daily living, such as feeding or dressing themselves.
But researchers involved in the study, including Kompoliti, were cautious about their findings, citing the need for a more extensive review to confirm the results.
In the present trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Neurological and Disorders and Stroke, 600 patients will be enrolled at 60 centers in the U.S. and Canada. Two dosages of coenzyme Q10 are being tested,1,200 mg and 2,400 mg, delivered in maple nut-flavored chewable wafers that also contain vitamin E.
Participants in the study will be evaluated periodically over 16 months for symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including tremor, stiffness of the limbs and trunk, impaired balance and coordination, and slowing of movements. They will also be assessed for ability to perform daily activities, overall quality of life, and need to take medications to alleviate symptoms.
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About Rush:
Rush University Medical Center includes a 674-bed (staffed) hospital; the Johnston R. Bowman Health Center; and Rush University (Rush Medical College, College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and the Graduate College).
Rush is currently constructing a 14-floor, 806,000-square-foot hospital building at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Congress Parkway. The new hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, is the centerpiece of a $1-billion, 10-year campus redevelopment plan called the Rush Transformation, which also includes a new orthopedics building (to open in Fall 2009), a new parking garage and central power plant completed in June 2009, renovations of selected existing buildings and demolition of obsolete buildings. The new hospital is being designed and built to conserve energy and water, reduce waste and use sustainable building materials. Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification from the U.S. Green BuildingCouncil. It will be the first full-service, "green" hospital in Chicago.
Rush's mission is to provide the best possible care for our patients. Educating tomorrow's health care professional, researching new and more advanced treatment options, transforming our facilities and investing in new technologies—all are undertaken with the drive to improve patient care now, and for the future.
I’ve been taking CQ 10 for years. Good for the complexion.
Aside from how good it makes your skin feel, it will build strength in your immune system by increasing the mineral storehouse in your largest organ , your skin.
Precisely, the basis for nerve/network healing.
Cheers!
I have been taking Q10 for years - improves gum health. I had braces on my teeth as an adult and Q10 made marked, and I do mean, marked improvement in my gum health. I read up on it before I began taking it and really, I never found any negatives, only very small studies that seemed to indicate that it could be a great supplement. For example, small studies saying it ‘reversed’ heart failure? Studies saying that women being treated for cancer reported it improved mood. The studies were small so I do not believe that they constitute fact but there were no negatives and one of the consistent claims was that it improved gum health, and ideed it does.
The most shocking improvement for me was that seemed to cure life-long insomnia. It is brand sensitive - I began taking it, and after a few days began to experience deep, refereshing sleep. I did not put the two together until I switched brands and the glorious sleep I had ‘discovered’ went away completely. On a hunch, I went back to the original brand, and returned to sleeping deeply at night. I find that if I don’t take Q10 for the day, I will sleep well that night but not the following night - there seems to be a 3 or 4 day delay in the onset of good sleep and a two day delay in the departure of good sleep once I stop taking it.
I have found more brands of Q10 that DON’T help me sleep than there are brands that DO work for me. I hate buying a bottle and finding the brand doesn’t work for me.
There are many brands that have very similar names so I retrieved my current bottle to read the label. A brand that works for me is TruNature. I suspect my sleep response is something just odd or off about me (difficient) but given that there were several studies on gum health that might interest many people. And those little, intriguing studies on heart failure, etc. I hope those turn out to bear fruit but have to remain skeptical.
coQ10 is pretty unnoticeable unless you have too little, then about everything can go wrong, often starting with the heart.
Importantly, statin drugs, given for high cholesterol, also inhibit the natural production of coQ10. So if you are taking a statin drug, like Lipitor, Vytorin, Crestor and Zocor, it is important that you also take a coQ10 supplement. This is more important the older you are, because natural coQ10 production decreases with age.
http://www.spacedoc.net/statins_CoQ10.htm
bookmark
I’ve been taking about 50mg a day for several years, just for good measure. I really hope that there will be a lot more research, including informal research, on treatments that people can do themselves. Best way to marginalize and shrink the insane government-medical-legal complex we’re suffering under, where many of the most basic medications can’t be obtained without paying for a doctor visit and a “prescription” (though many doctors will happily write out a script for whatever you ask for, as long as they’re getting their office visit fee). My guess is that this formal study was prompted by strong anecdotal reports of success by people who were experimenting with self-medication with CoQ10.
I would not be surprised. Co-enzyme Q10 is an awesome substance in its own right. Great antioxidant.
That is an excellent idea. Thanks!
I’m going to try to incorporate this into my daily shower. Try and get the wife to do the same. Good logic and easy application.
Ping to something else which may be of interest...(Thanks, grey_whiskers!)
FReepmail me if you want on or off the Parkinson's Disease ping list.
Thanks for the ping. Interesting...
That legislation will outlaw all food supplements, all vitamins and organic food. Bovine growth hormone will be required. Dairy products will be contaminated forever. Americans will grow even fatter and sicker. Obama has appointed a Monsanto Shill as the 'Safe Food Czar.' The Big M owns Congress.
0 has promised to sign the legislation. Millions more Americans working on small organic farms and in health food industry will soon be unemployed
Do your own freep search of 'codex.' It's eye opening in a very negative way . . .
Thanks for the ping, Smokin’ Joe.
My dad died from Parkinson’s...hopefully this discovery will help others.
Bookmarking this article.
Sorry ! My bad: I meant to post ‘Outlawing both Q10 and Vitamin D.’
I’m gonna buy stock in Co-Q10 companies.
If I can remember to...
Which exactly why the health crisis is just that!
Health care "professionals" are trained towards the complicated (read expensive), and ignore time honored cheap as dirt remedies of which Epsom salt is #1 or at least a strong and steady top ten contender.
History shows, if you take the time to look, that these easy broad spectrum remedies have been drummed out of the training of our "docs" by the very corponazi "Benedicto's" of Med schools who profit thousand fold or more in return for this minimal yet invasive investment.
I haven't seen a graph, but I'm sure the damage can be illustrated as well as the chart that shows the rise in obesity tracks perfectly with the gradual introduction of HFCS (synthetic molecule that interrupts hormone Leptin and Heroin among other damage) into our foods.
Anyway, it also change benefactors to Benidicto's which I guess could be considered "editing", 'cause I like the way it sounds.
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