HEALTH: CARDIOLOGY
Heart Health and Hope From CoQ10 to omega-3s, supplements for the heart are supported by compelling research By Carrie Adkins-Ali
The supplement shelves in your store offer customers more than vitamins and minerals: They also offer hope — for better health, more energy and a longer life, just to start. And one category of supplements also offers solid research to back up those promises: products for heart health.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) The human body makes its own CoQ10, a substance that protects cells from oxidative damage, fights chronic inflammation, regulates genes that control cellular growth and maintenance, and supports the production of adenosine triphosphate, the energy molecules that fuel cellular activity. But at around age 40, that production begins to
“If a patient is taking a statin, they should also take 200 mg daily of CoQ10.” — Jacob Teitelbaum, MD
decline, said internist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, and that’s associated with everything from diabetes mellitus to cardiovascular disease. In fact, threequarters of people with cardiovascular diseases have low levels of CoQ10. Boosting the body’s CoQ10 with supplements offers a variety of potential benefits: • Lower risk of death. In a study published in the Journal of Cardiology, more than 200 people aged 70 and older took either a supplement with CoQ10 and selenium or a placebo. Nine years later, those taking the supplement had half the rate of death from cardiovascular disease. • Improved exercise capacity. In a
DRUGSTORENEWS.COM December 2022
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