i heard that supplementation with Co-enzyme Q10 is a good idea when taking statins - what is the benefit of this?

Good question Amo, a bit of digging has come up with the following:

Since coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and cholesterol are both synthesized from the same substance, mevalonate, statin drugs (Lipitor, Zocor, etc) also inhibit the body's synthesis of coenzyme Q10. This is not a "side effect," of statins, but a direct, inherent function of the drugs.

In fact, the use of statins can decrease the body's synthesis of coenzyme Q10 by as much as 40%!

So it looks like some kind of supplement of this is indicated if you are on Statins for any length of time.

thanks for looking into this, Amanda - in your research, were you able to identify what are the resultant physiological effects of having a potential statin-induced co-enzyme Q10 deficiency??

Well I found this at [url]http://www.ccjm.org/content/77/7/435[/url].


In some clinical trials, coenzyme Q10 supplements significantly lowered diastolic and systolic blood pressure.

Statins may lower coenzyme Q10 serum levels, and some investigators have evaluated the relationship between coenzyme Q10 deficiency and statin-related myalgia, but more evidence is needed to support the use of coenzyme Q10 supplements to prevent or treat myalgia.

Coenzyme Q10 supplementation appears to be relatively safe. Most clinical trials have not reported significant side effects that necessitated stopping therapy. Gastrointestinal effects include abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia. Allergic rash and headache have also been reported.

i also found the following interesting information from this link, [url]http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/10/making-sense-of-your-cholesterol-numbers.aspx[/url] :



For starters, statin drugs deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is beneficial to heart health and muscle function. Because doctors rarely inform people of this risk and advise them to take a CoQ10 supplement, this depletion leads to fatigue, muscle weakness, soreness, and eventually heart failure.

Muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, is actually the most common side effect of statin drugs, which is thought to occur because statins activate the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy.[xiii]

By the way, muscle pain and weakness may be an indication that your body tissues are actually breaking down -- a condition that can cause kidney damage.

Statin drugs have also been linked to:

An increased risk of polyneuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain in the hands and feet and trouble walking)
Dizziness
Cognitive impairment, including memory loss[xiv]
A potential increased risk of cancer[xv]
Decreased function of the immune system[xvi]
Depression
Liver problems, including a potential increase in liver enzymes (so people taking statins must be regularly monitored for normal liver function)
And recently a possible association was found between statins and an increased risk of Lou Gehrig's disease.[xvii]

Other cholesterol-lowering drugs besides statins also have side effects, most notably muscle pain and weakness.

IMPORTANT NOTE

If, for whatever reason, you or someone you know or love does not believe the information in this report and chooses to stay on statin drugs, then please make sure they at least take one to two Ubiquinols per day.

This will help prevent all the side effects mentioned above.

Ubiquinol is the reduced version of Coenzyme Q-10 and is far more effective if you are over 35-40 years old. It is the form of the supplement that actually works, and if you take CoQ-10 and your body can't reduce it to uniquinol you are just fooling yourself and wasting your money.