CoQ10 and Statins: The Vitamin C Connection

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CoQ10 and Statins: The Vitamin C Connection

http://www.thecureforheartdisease.com/owen/coq10.htm

by Owen R. Fonorow © 2003

 

“We are now in a position to witness the unfolding of the greatest medical

tragedy of all time - never before in history has the medical establishment

knowingly created a life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of

otherwise

healthy people.â€

- Peter H. Langsjoen, MD

 

 

Ubiquinone (CoQ10) is a popular heart medication. Until 2001, it was only

available by prescription in Japan. The public is hardly aware that an

increasingly popular class of cardiovascular drugs called statins (HMG-CoA

reductase

inhibitors) interfere with the body’s synthesis of CoQ10. [*] Top selling

statin

drugs, such as LipitorÃ’ and ZocorÃ’, earn their makers in excess $20 billion

per year. These drugs lower the endogenous production of cholesterol and are

often touted as “life saving†by cardiologists and the Media.

 

Are the statin drugs really good for us, or are cardiologists mistaken? How

can drugs that lower the body’s production of CoQ10 benefit heart patients?

Are the health benefits attributed to CoQ10 supplementation hype or is it that

there is something fundamentally wrong with the thinking and science being

used by those who market statin drugs?

 

COQ10 BASICS

 

Coenzyme Q10 is a vitamin-like fat-soluble antioxidant found everywhere in

the body; the highest concentrations have been measured in vital organs such as

the heart and pancreas. At age 20, the heart has a higher CoQ10 level than

other major organs. At age 80 this is no longer true, with the heart levels cut

by more than half. More than 35 controlled clinical trials in Japan, Europe

and the U.S. have proven that CoQ10 therapy is highly effective in treatment of

congestive heart failure, angina and ischemic heart disease, and myocardial

infarction. It is now believed that CoQ10 is the key nutrient for generating

95 percent of the total energy required by the human body.

 

A healthy, youthful human body can make its own CoQ10. Endogenous production

or biosynthesis of CoQ10 has 17 steps, requiring at least seven vitamins

(vitamin B2 - riboflavin, vitamin B3 - niacinamide, vitamin B6, folic acid,

vitamin

B12, vitamin C, and pantothenic acid) and several trace elements.

 

The pharmaceutical giant Merck has known for more than 15 years that statin

drugs interfere with CoQ10 biosynthesis; leading to low serum levels which

cause muscles to atrophy. The following claim from one of two 1990 Merck

patents

(4,933,165) is to add CoQ10 to statin drugs in order to overcome statin

induced myopathy:

 

 

1. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutical carrier and an

effective antihypercholesterolemic amount of an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor and

an amount of Coenzyme Q.sub.10 effective to counteract HMG-CoA reductase

inhibitor-associated skeletal muscle myopathy.

 

 

This invention has never been implemented, probably because the entire world

supply of CoQ10 is limited and current production would only supply one-sixth

of the world’s statin users.

 

 

VARIOUS HEALTH BENEFITS ATTRIBUTED TO COQ10

 

The CoQ10 science has accelerated from its discovery in 1957 until the

present day and appears excellent. [*] The following headlines summarize the

many

clinical studies that have shown CoQ10 supplementation beneficial in disease

conditions ranging from Parkinson’s disease to cataracts. Dosages studied

range

from 30 mg to 1200 mg daily. Higher dosages have generally been found to be

more beneficial.

 

· CoQ10 gives complete protection against stroke

 

Since 1972, in studies of stroke in three animal models (dog, rat, gerbil)

ubiquinone (coq10) was the only agent giving complete protection and this was

over two times more often than the next best agent (naloxone) of the many tested

to date. [*]

 

· CoQ10 benefits Cardiovascular Disease

 

CoQ10 levels in heart tissue decline disproportionately with age. CoQ10

pioneer Karl Folkers (1985), in agreement with earlier Japanese studies, found

lower CoQ10 levels in patients with more severe heart disease and showed that

CoQ10 supplements significantly raised blood and heart tissue levels of CoQ10 in

these patients. [*]

 

· CoQ10 improves high blood pressure

 

" At least six clinical trials have shown a blood pressure-lowering effect of

CoQ10. [*]

 

· CoQ10 for Parkinson’s disease.

 

" Less disability developed in subjects on CoQ10 than in those on placebo, and

the benefit was greatest in people receiving the highest dosage. " [*]

 

· CoQ10 benefits people with kidney failure.

 

" Because CoQ10 has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of chronic

renal failure, a large-scale, long-term study should be initiated as soon as

possible. " - Alan Gaby [*]

 

· CoQ10 for youthful skin

 

" Just recently scientists have also discovered that this natural supplement

may even slow down the skin's aging process. Gerson Unna confirmed that, like

vitamin E, Co-Q10 slows down tissue damage by decreasing the effect of free

radical molecules. In a placebo-controlled study, researchers at Beiersdorf

discovered that after six weeks of daily treatment on crow's feet (eye

wrinkles),

wrinkle depth was reduced by 27 percent; after 10 weeks, fine lines and wrin

kles were reduced by a surprising 43 percent. The enzyme also has been effective

in the reduction and fading of age spots and is touted by Beiersdorf for its

lack of toxicity. [*]

 

· CoQ10 Effective for Migraine Prevention [*]

 

· CoQ10 Therapy can improve glucose control in Type 2 diabetics [*]

 

· 400 mg CoQ10 reportedly induced cancer remissions. [*]

 

Science has uncovered even more benefits of supplemental CoQ10. [*]

 

 

COQ10 SUPPLEMENTATION IS NECESSARY AS WE AGE

 

Researcher Dr. John Ely, of the University of Washington, holds that CoQ10

supplementation is essential in the aged. Most people make approximately 500 mg

of Coq10 daily in the body, at least up until age 21. Between ages 21 and 30,

levels of CoQ10 begin to drop, perhaps because of aging. This causes the

degeneration of cells, which may contribute to age-related diseases and

conditions

such as high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease and the breakdown of

skin tissue.

 

Statin drugs and deficiencies in several other vitamins also cause blood

levels of CoQ10 to drop.

 

According to Dr. Ely,

 

“Possibly the most important details not reported previously are those

related to CoQ10 body pool and turnover rate that mandate human supplementation.

Adult human body pool has been found to be approximately 2 grams and requires

replacement of about 0.5 grams/day based on its average turnover rate of about 4

days in various tissues. This must be supplied either by endogenous synthesis

or from exogenous sources. Synthesis decreases progressively in humans above

age 21. Furthermore, the average ubiquinone content of the western diet is less

than 5 mg/day. Thus, ubiquinone supplementation appears to be the only way

for older people, and certainly the ill, to obtain the major proportion of the

0.5 gram/day need. Failure to supplement by the aged, ill or stressed, can have

tragic consequences in the form of irreversible damage in the brain, other

organs and mitochondria everywhere.†[

http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/turnover.htm ].

 

 

CoQ10 pioneer Karl Folkers claimed that the primary source of CoQ10 in man is

biosynthesis. Folkers argues that†suboptimal nutrient intake in man is

almost universal causing subsequent secondary impairment in CoQ10

biosynthesis.â€

According to CoQ10 expert Peter H. Langsjoen, MD. “This means that average or

" normal " levels of CoQ10 are really suboptimal and the very low levels observed

in advanced disease states represent only the tip of a deficiency ice berg.â€

 

The Vitamin C Connection

 

Vitamin C is a " natural " HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. [*] It was observed

experimentally that when vitamin C levels are low, cholesterol becomes elevated,

and when more vitamin C is consumed, cholesterol levels decline. The

mechanism by which vitamin C lowers cholesterol was discovered circa 1985. High

Vitamin C levels inhibit the same the HMG-CoA Reductase enzyme as the statin

drugs.

The inescapable conclusion is that vitamin C does what statins do - lowers

cholesterol -- without side-effects. If the statin drugs were patterned after

Vitamin C, they lack many other benefits of the vitamin. For example, vitamin C

promotes the production of coenzyme Q10 and lowers Lp(a).

 

It is interesting that in addition to vitamin C, our bodies require many B

vitamins to synthesize CoQ10. Voluminous research has found beneficial effects

from ascorbic acid supplementation similar to the effects found from smaller

dose CoQ10 supplementation. For example, in a recent study, hydro soluble CoQ10

supplementation was shown to lower circulating levels of Lp(a). We speculate

that some of these similar effects may be due to increased endogenous CoQ10

synthesis induced by the ascorbic acid along with generally better all around

nutrition.

 

Every human body makes up to 500 mg of CoQ10 daily; no human body can make

vitamin C. As important as CoQ10 is for health, vitamin C is more important,

perhaps an order of magnitude. That fact is that most mammals synthesize ten

times more vitamin C than they do CoQ10, when adjusted for body weight. Under

normal circumstances the daily amount of ascorbic acid produced by mammals lies

between 3,000 mg and 15,000 mg, with an average of 5,400 mg, when adjusted for

comparison to the weight of the average male human being.

 

We conclude that everyone should supplement 3,000 mg to 6,000mg vitamin C

daily from birth, including during pregnancy. On the other hand, healthy,

well-nourished children will usually synthesize their own CoQ10. With the

possible

exception of athletes, persons taking vitamin C should not have to supplement

CoQ10 until the fourth or fifth decade of life. Athletes have a high requirement

for CoQ10 and may benefit from supplementation earlier in life.

 

The Statin Dilemma

 

The question persists, how can statin drugs that deplete levels of CoQ10 be “

life saving?†Not only do statins used to treat elevated blood cholesterol

levels by blocking cholesterol biosynthesis also block CoQ10 biosynthesis, but

most CoQ10 and vitamin E molecules circulate through the bloodstream attached

to LDL particles.

 

According Dr. Langsjoen, “The resulting lowering of blood CoQ10 level is due

to the partially shared biosynthetic pathway of CoQ10 and cholesterol. In

patients with heart failure this is more than a laboratory observation. It has a

significant harmful effect which can be negated by oral CoQ10

supplementation.â€

 

 

So, are “safe†statin drugs the next “aspirin?†There is considerable

hype

in reporting the science behind cholesterol lowering drugs. We found, chasing

down many of the media stories suggesting benefit, that most stories are

either hoaxes or highly speculative. In the world of media hype, an estimated

0.4

% reduction in plaque creates worldwide news. Furthermore, it is difficult to

formulate an overall theory that explains the reported benefits.

 

The first “red flag†one encounters researching the statin studies are that

the raw mortality data is being kept a closely guarded secret. The data is

summarized, but it is surprisingly hard to inspect the raw data of studies

published in peer-reviewed journals; mortality data that allegedly supports the

“

life saving†claims made for statins. This is true of the so-called Heart

Protection Study (HPS) managed by Oxford University.

 

According to statistician Eddie Vos, after millions of statin pills, in those

studies that have summarized or released the data, there is no change in

mortality curves - the graphs of the placebo and statin groups touch.

 

“Massive benefits proclaims Oxford University about its 2002 HPS study, " the

world's largest cholesterol-lowering trial " . 75% of heart attacks still

happen and 300 people on the drug for 12 months to postpone the death of just 1

of

them. Massive drug use, few lives saved. The next European study claiming

benefit in high-risk elderly, PROSPER, found 6 lives saved but 24 more cancer

deaths, and more new cancers in each of 4 years in a group with 52 fewer

smokers. Zero " anything " benefit was next found in the ALLHAT trial in 10 year

younger North Americans: 1 death postponed per 1.1 million $3-pills taken! Next

was Lipitor's ASCOT study: also no mortality benefit. From 10 years ago:

cholesterol lowering by any means caused 150 more deaths per 100,000

patient-years

of intervention.†[ www.health-heart.org ]

 

The HPS paper published in the Lancet medical journal makes me wary of the

claims made by the authors. HPS reportedly had four study groups, 1) a placebo

group, 2) a placebo-plus-antioxidant-vitamins group, 3) a statin group and 4)

a statin-plus-antioxidant-vitamins group. A second paper devoted to the

antioxidant vitamins was published; implying that claims of “massive

benefit†in

the first paper is between the statins and placebo. However, the paper is

written without even a summary of the supporting data, and these results could

very well have been between the statins-plus-antioxidants group 4 against the

placebo group 1. The authors carefully avoid this issue.

 

The HPS paper does not discuss the differences between the statins group 3

and statins-and-antioxidants group 4 versus placebo, an obvious point of

interest. Instead, they published the second paper diverting attention from

this

issue. The refusal to publish and share the data indicates that there is

something to hide.

 

British author/researcher Malcolm Kendrick, MD, comments about HPS study:

 

" In the Heart Protection Study (HPS), a major study in which the rate of

deaths was (reportedly) reduced in patients taking a statin (simvastatin), at

post-mortem, the people who had been taking the statin had bigger and more

complex

plaques than those who had not. "

 

VITAMIN C AND MORTALITY

 

Vitamin C’s proven effect on mortality stands in stark contrast to the statin

drugs. According to author Bill Sardi, “ Vitamin C is the only vitamin

repeatedly proven to increase the human life span when taken in doses that

exceed

dietary levels of this vitamin. " This observation was recently confirmed in

Britain, again.

 

Low Blood Vitamin C Concentrations in the Older British Population Strongly

Predict Mortality

 

In November 2003 the British Centre for Ageing and Public Health, London

School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.

(astrid.fletcher) published their findings of a direct correlation

between low vitamin C

and increased mortality.

 

We found a strong inverse relationship for blood ascorbate (vitamin C)

concentrations with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, which were

only

marginally reduced after adjustment for confounders or supplement use. Those

in the lowest fifth (< 17 micromol/L) had the highest mortality, whereas those

in the highest fifth (> 66 micromol/L) had a mortality risk nearly half that

(hazard ratio = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.84). Similar results were found after the

exclusion of those subjects with cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline

(hazard ratio = 0.51; 0.28, 0.93). In fully adjusted models, there was no

evidence for an influence of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin-E), beta-carotene, or

retinol (vitamin-A) on total mortality. Dietary antioxidants measured by the

food-frequency questionnaire were not associated with all-cause or

cardiovascular

disease mortalityâ€

 

Adverse Side Effects of Statin Cholesterol Lowering Drugs:

 

The following headlines from BOLENREPORT.COM http://www.bolenreport.som/

reveal the many little-known side effects of the 'artificial' Statin drugs, some

of which are required to be reported in Canadian statin drug ads, but not the

U. S. versions.

 

Statin Cholesterol Lowering Drugs:

 

1. Deplete the ubiquinone (vitamin-like) Coenzyme Q10 causing cardiomyopthy

and heart failure

 

2. Change, weaken, damage or destroy muscle (depending on dose and

concomitant use of other drugs)

 

3. Do not slow atherosclerosis

 

4. Induce sudden total memory loss

 

5. Increase eye cataract risk

 

6. Suppress immune function

 

7. Are linked to cancer

 

8. Have been linked for 10-years with Rhabdomyolysis and Myoglobinuria

 

9. Have been linked with elevated transaminase (indicator of liver and

kidney damage)

 

10. Are linked to nerve damage

 

11. Induce muscle pain

 

12. Do not extend life

 

13. Increase serum Lp(a) concentrations** (Increasing odds of heart attack

or stroke up to 70% SOURCE: CIRCULATION)

 

14. Reduce left ventricular function,

 

15. Elevate the lactate to pyruvate ratio

 

16. Enhance LDL cholesterol oxidation

 

17. Would be expected to interfere with any function (e.g. sex hormone

production, hair growth, sleep, or proper brain and nerve function) that depends

on

cholesterol or CoQ10

 

18. Are prescribed to 13 million (in the U.S., 25 million worldwide)

creating a $20b market

 

19. Are MORTAL (else will cause 65,000 predicted myopathies Source: Merck

Patent)

 

NOTE: Biopsy only reliable test for statin induced myopathy

 

Supplemental Vitamin C and CoQ10 are completely nontoxic and would lessen or

eliminate most of these statin-induced effects.

 

More headlines from BOLENREPORT.COM illustrate the health benefits of Vitamin

C:

 

1. HARVARD: VITAMIN C ONLY 1 OF 880 SUBSTANCES TO REGENERATE HEART MUSCLE

FROM STEM CELLS

 

2. 15-YEAR HARVARD STUDY OF 85,000 FINDS SINGLE VITAMIN C PILL REDUCES HEART

DISEASE ALMOST 30%

 

2. THE RISK OF STROKE WAS 70% HIGHER AMONG THOSE IN THE LOWEST QUARTILE FOR

SERUM VITAMIN C THAN AMONG THOSE IN THE HIGHEST

 

3. VITAMIN C INHIBITS LIPID OXIDATION IN HUMAN HDL

 

4. MORE VITAMIN C AS PILLS REDUCE CATARACTS BY 77%

 

5. HIGH-DOSE VITAMIN C COMPLETELY PREVENTED DRUG-INDUCED AMNESIA IN MICE

 

6. CARNITINE, ITS BUILDING BLOCKS VITAMIN C AND LYSINE, INCREASE MUSCLE

STRENGTH

 

7. MATTHIAS RATH CLAIMS CANCER HALTED WITH VITAMIN C/LYSINE/PROLINE AND

GREEN TEA EXTRACT

 

8. VITAMIN C BOOSTS IMMUNE SYSTEM IN AS LITTLE AS 5 HOURS (NIH)

 

9. VITAMIN C PILLS EXTEND LIFE 6-YEARS (USC)

 

10. VITAMIN C (AND LYSINE) HALT ATHEROSCLEROSIS

 

11. IV VITAMIN C REVERSES ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCION

 

12. VITAMIN C - NEW TREATMENT FOR OSTEOPOROSIS

 

13. VITAMIN C CAN (1) PREVENT THE DETERIORATION COMPLETELY; AND (2) CURE

EVEN LARGE AORTIC ANEURYSMS WITHOUT SURGERY. [*]

 

Conclusion

 

Apparently a 20 billion dollar market has blinded some scientists. Merck and

the other pharmaceutical companies have known about the CoQ10 biosynthesis “

issue†for more than a decade. (Few medical doctors in the U.S. are aware of

this problem.) There exists no theory that justifies the use of statin drugs.

This author has seen no data or evidence that demonstrates any real health

benefit for statin drug use in most people that overcomes the proven detriment

of

hampering the production of CoQ10.

 

How could the existing claims for the statin drugs have ever been approved by

the FDA? Apparently the dosage of a statin is important. At lower dosages,

the “bad†effects are reduced such that the mortality curves between the

control and statin groups are similar. The studies rarely try to quantify

muscular

aches and pains, and instead usually focus on lowered cholesterol as the

end-point. Ergo, if the drug lowers cholesterol, beneficial effects on heart

patients are assumed.

 

According to Dr. Langsjoen, “ In my practice of 17 years in Tyler, Texas, I

have seen a frightening increase in heart failure secondary to statin usage, “

statin cardiomyopathy.†Over the past five years, statins have become more

potent, are being prescribed in higher dosages, and are being used with reckless

abandon in the elderly and in patients with “normal†cholesterol levels. We

are in the midst of a Congestive Heart Failure epidemic in the US with a

dramatic increase over the past decade. Are we causing this epidemic through

our

zealous use of statins? In large part I think the answer is yes. We are now in a

position to witness the unfolding of the greatest medical tragedy of all time

- never before in history has the medical establishment knowingly create a

life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people.â€

 

POSTULATE

No human who consistently consumes 10,000 mg or more Ascorbic Acid (vitamin

C) and 300 mg or more of ubiquinone (CoQ10) daily has heart disease.

 

PREDICTION

Studies that purport to show that statins benefit heart patients either has

mischaracterized the data or, eventually, will be shown to be fraudulent.

 

We defy any researcher to find a contrary example to our postulate, and we

stand by the prediction. Cardiologists, as a rule, are highly trained

professionals, yet they are being duped by drug company efforts to expand

markets. They

love these statin drugs, and why not, patients keep coming back?

 

It is unconscionable that editors of mainstream medical journals, elements of

the U. S. government and the news media continue to hide the explosive

research results on vitamin C and CoQ10 from U.S. doctors. Disregarding

malpractice, the continuance of ignoring vitamin C and CoQ10, while marketing

and

prescribing statin drugs -- for heart patients -- is criminal.

 

Owen R. Fonorow, Ph.D., Naturopath

Vitamin C Foundation

www.VitaminCFoundation.org

www.PaulingTherapy.com

fonorow

Fax: (630) 416-1309