Since
1960’s there have been numerous controlled clinical trials concerning relationship between congestive heart failure and Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). As its name implies CoQ10 is a coenzyme that is necessary for proper functioning of other substances, one of most important of which is ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is necessary for production of cellular energy. By proxy CoQ10 is likewise essential for this process. Clinical trials have attempted to study relationship between CoQ10 and many chronic diseases including, but not limited to, heart disease, cancer and AIDS. But heart disease has gained most attention; congestive heart failure being one of primary subjects. Because heart muscle cells require so much energy to function and CoQ10 is at core of cellular energy process it makes sense to suspect that congestive heart failure might be linked to CoQ10 deficiency. With that theory in mind many studies like ones that follow have been conducted. These trials have been presented in this essay in thumbnail format.
One early Japanese trial (1972) involved 197 patients with varying levels of severity of cardiac failure. The study reported significant improvement of cardiac function supplementing with 30 mg per day of CoQ10. Another Japanese study demonstrated similar results with 38 patients also supplementing with 30 mg. In 1985 a U.S. clinical study prescribed daily supplementation with 100 mg of coenzyme for treatment periods of three months for patients with low ejection fraction measurements. The ejection fraction is measure of heart’s ability to pump blood. A low ejection fraction is a classic symptom of congestive heart failure. Again, significant improvements in heart function were reported. Other clinical trials followed prescribing same level of supplementation with similar results.
Studies in early 1990s showed improvement for patients suffering from ischemic cardiomyopathy (a low oxygen state usually due to obstruction) with supplemental levels of 200 mg per day. Supplementing with 100 mg per day demonstrated improvement for patients suffering from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart syndrome of unknown cause.
One of largest trials of 1990s involves 641 patients randomly divided into two groups. The first group received a placebo. The other group received CoQ10 supplements. During one-year follow-up period 118 patients in placebo group were hospitalized for heart failure compared to 73 in group that received supplements.
All of preceding trials were relatively short-term studies. The level of improvement among patients varied depending on how long they had been suffering from some aspect of congestive heart failure. Through years it has become increasing clear that greatest improvements were shown in patients that had suffered from their condition least amount of time. In other words, longer a person had been suffering from disease before he or she received CoQ10 treatments less improvement was demonstrated. People who had received treatments early in development of disease showed most dramatic improvement often returning to normal heart function. Long-term sufferers received less relief and were less likely to return to full heart function. Whatever reasons for this disparity in health improvement, it demonstrates importance of receiving treatment as early as possible.
