A Personal Experiment With Co-Enzyme Q10 Pays Off

[Guest guest]

June 17, 2004

 

A Personal Experiment With Co-Enzyme Q10 Pays Off - Even A Once-Suspicious

Dentist Agrees

http://www.redflagsdaily.com/ - Health tips

 

By Nicholas Regush

 

My own interest in Co-Enzyme Q10 began several years ago when I was a

health-issues producer for World News Tonight With Peter Jennings. Upon

hearing that science appeared to be progressing on the Q10 front, I decided

to put together a segment on the subject for the broadcast. A Visit with

Dr. Peter Langsjoen, a cardiologist in Tyler, Texas, set the scene for the

news piece. Langsjoen has been particularly interested in the use of Q10 in

patients with heart failure and he was finding in his studies that the

nutrient was affecting some of his patients in a very positive manner.

 

Q10 is used by cells to produce energy. Cells need energy to function and

grow. Q10 is also known for its antioxidant properties. So, besides helping

to fuel cells, it also protects them against damage (including their DNA)

from reactive chemicals called " free radicals. " As we age, levels of this

nutrient drop off. At 80, it has been estimated, levels are cut by at least

half. And increasing numbers of studies have associated depleted Q10 levels

with illness. Given its important role in producing energy for cells, this

should not be surprising.

 

In the preparation for the piece, I also ran across some very preliminary

and small studies that were suggesting Q10 might be of some value to

patients with periodontal (gum) disease. At the time, my dentist had been

warning me that I was a perfect candidate for gum surgery because I had not

been flossing my teeth in any regular fashion and that I was already

suffering the consequences. " You're a disaster in waiting, " he said.

 

After the heart-failure and Q10 piece aired, I wrote a column for

ABCNews.com about my own little gum " experiment. " In short, after a couple

of months, my dentist was floored; he was a witness to what seemed like a

remarkable recovery. To add a little flavor to my ongoing

self-experimentation, I decided that I would stop flossing and see what

would happen. My next visit to the dentist revealed that my gums appeared

to be in great shape.

 

Of course, this was all ancedotal and not scientific information. It may

well turn out that only some people benefit in this way. Who knows? That's

why we need science; otherwise, opinions can be a dime-a-dozen and

marketing will take over completely.

 

However...four years later, my gums remain pink and solid. A visit to the

dentist the other day confirmed this. " This continues to be such a dramatic

improvement, " he said, after poking around in my mouth for a few minutes.

But he had to qualify this by adding that, " maybe Q10 is masking some

problem, " but if it is I can't see it. "

 

" Still suspicious? " I asked.

 

" Not as much, " he replied.

 

My appointment was for a cleaning. There was some plaque to scrape away.

" You hardly bleed at all, " he said, shaking his head after completing the

cleaning. " There is no sign of any disease. "

 

Unfortunately, there is still very little research focusing on Q10 and gum

disease. " There's no funding for this, " my dentist said. Even though he

teaches at a major dental school, there is no serious discussion of Q10 in

the basic clinical curriculum. " That's for the research side, but it's not

getting done. "

 

Instead, the big news this week had to do with Pfizer's campaign to promote

the use of its mouth rinse, Listerine.

 

" I don't believe in miracle mouth rinses, " he said, laughing. " That one has

been kicking around for a long time. Why now? Is the product going downhill? "

 

Well, here we go again, I thought. Little attention to an important

nutrient and a big splash for an anti-bacterial that a drug company was now

pushing as a major plaque fighter.