Hearts Are Healthier with Coenzyme Q10

We've said again and again that ribose and the antioxidant coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) are amazingly effective for boosting energy and strengthening the heart. One more study shows that CoQ10 is terrific for your ticker.

Italian researchers studied 53 people with heart failure who were already receiving the "best therapy" for the condition, according to American Heart Association guidelines. (All of them were taking meds, with most of them taking 3 or more drugs for the heart condition.) The study participants took either a supplement that combined coenzyme Q10 with Pycnogenol (an antioxidant made from pine bark extract) or a placebo. After 12 weeks, those taking the supplement had remarkable improvements in their condition. Specifically, they had:

• 22% increase in "ejection fraction" — the force of the heartbeat, and a crucial measurement in heart failure.
• Three-fold increase in the distance they could walk on a treadmill.
• Lower heart rate (a sign of a stronger heart).
• Slower breathing (another sign).
• Decreased blood pressure (ditto).
• Less water retention (edema) in the legs, a common symptom of heart failure.

Meanwhile, the people taking the placebo had little or no change in any of those parameters.

"Pycnogenol and CoQ10 may offer an important therapeutic option . . . that improves heart failure management without side effects," concluded the researchers.

Now, if this supplement combination were a new drug, I think cardiologists would be jumping up and down and throwing a big party. But because it's a natural therapy, it will probably be ignored — and the standard "best therapy" for heart failure will continue to be second rate.

For more information, see "Addressing Heart Problems Naturally."

References

"Investigation of Pycnogenol® in combination with coenzymeQ10 in heart failure patients (NYHA II/III)." Belcaro G, Cesarone MR, Dugall M, Hosoi M, Ippolito E, Bavera P, Grossi MG. Panminerva Med. 2010 Jun;52 (2 Suppl 1): 21-5.