irregular heartbeat

[fhg43]

Not only have I not come across this in any literature I've been reading, I myself have been taking it with excellent results for quite a while and I'm not that old. Please send me some of the clinical studies if you have access, I'm definitely interested.

40butpumpin:

1. Research from PubMed; search "CoQ10"
The effects of ageing on the response to cardiac surgery: protective strategies for the ageing myocardium.

"With ageing of the general population, increasing numbers of elderly patients are presenting for interventional cardiac treatment such as cardiac surgery, angioplasty and thrombolysis. However, the results of these interventions in the elderly are inferior to those in the young. A likely contributing factor is an age-related reduction in cellular energy production in the myocardium during interventions that induce aerobic or ischaemic stress. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has the potential to improve the efficiency of energy production in mitochondria by bypassing defective components in the respiratory chain as well as reducing the effects of oxidative stress. We hypothesised that CoQ10 pretreatment prior to stress could improve the post-stress recovery of the myocardium. We investigated this hypothesis in three studies. In Study 1, isolated hearts taken from senescent or mature rats, pre-treated with CoQ10 were subjected to rapid electrical pacing and the recovery of work after pacing as a percentage of pre-pacing level was measured. In Study 2, human atrial tissue obtained at the time of open heart surgery was subjected to simulated ischaemia in the organ bath after incubation with CoQ10 or vehicle and recovery measured. Study 3 was a clinical trial of oral CoQ10 therapy for 2 weeks pre-operatively in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Study 1. CoQ10 treatment in senescent rat hearts improved recovery of work after rapid pacing (48.1+/-4.1 vs 16.8+/-4.3%; P < 0.0001) and MVO2 (82.1+/-2.8 vs 61.3+/-4.0%; P < 0.01) in treated versus untreated hearts respectively. Study 2. Post-ischaemic human trabeculae from the > or =70 years old group displayed less contractile recovery compared to the <70 years old group, but this difference was abolished by CoQ10 pre-incubation. Study 3: respiration by mitochondria isolated from trabeculae was more efficient after CoQ10 pretreatment than placebo. Compared to placebo, CoQ10 patients had a lower release of Troponin I, improved cardiac pump function and a shorter length of stay in hospital. In conclusion: 1) Senescent hearts have reduced baseline function and reduced tolerance to aerobic stress compared to young hearts. 2) Pre-treatment with oral CoQ10 improves baseline function of the senescent myocardium and its tolerance to aerobic stress. 3) CoQ10 pre-treatment in vitro overcomes the reduced capacity of aged human heart muscle to recover contractile function after ischaemia compared to younger muscle. 4) Oral CoQ10 therapy before cardiac surgery improves efficiency of mitochondrial energy production, improves post-operative heart function, reduces intra-operative myocardial damage and shortens hospital stay."


2. Research from PubMed; search "CoQ10 athletes"
Does exogenous coenzyme Q10 affect aerobic capacity in endurance athletes?

"The effect of orally supplemented coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on plasma CoQ10 concentration and aerobic capacity in endurance athletes was evaluated. Eighteen volunteer male road cyclists and triathletes, 8 in a CoQ10 supplementation group (QG) and 10 in a placebo group (PG), successfully completed the experimental protocol. Subjects were evaluated during and following graded cycling exercise tests, which were performed before and after 28 days of supplementation with 1 mg.kg-1.day-1 of CoQ10 or placebo. The presupplementation plasma CoQ10 concentration was significantly increased from 0.91 +/- 0.13 microgram.ml-1 to 1.97 +/- 0.27 microgram.ml-1 in QG following supplementation (p < .05). However, the CoQ10 supplementation regime had no consistently significant effect on oxygen uptake, anaerobic and respiratory compensation thresholds, blood lactate, glucose and triglyceride kinetics, heart rate, and blood pressure during and after graded cycling to exhaustion."

I came across another study which purported that the test group of XC skiiers had improved performances but it actually reads "athletes felt it improved performance." There is big difference between measuring performance and feeling something improves performance.

Point being: CoQ10 supplementation appears to have a benefit in aging patients or individuals with heart problems, BUT it doesn't appear to have any kind of athletic performance-enhancing benefits. For this reason I have regulated it to antioxidant only status-I had been supplementing to aid in athletic performance, but wasn't feeling it! Still think it is a good anti-ox/free radical killer. It just doesn't make you bigger, faster, or stronger.

FHG