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CoQ10 and Selenium Improve Long-Term Heart Health

by | Apr 25, 2016 | 2015, Cardiovascular Health, Selenium

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A 10 year follow-up, after four years of supplementing with a combination of CoQ10 and selenium, significantly reduced the risk of death from both cardiovascular disease and heart disease by 49% in 221 healthy elderly participants compared to 222 non-participants.

Cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke, are the first and third leading causes of death for both men and women in the U.S. They account for 1 in 3 of all U.S. deaths and cost our healthcare system $473 billion in 2009. If all major types of cardiovascular disease were eliminated, U.S. life expectancy would increase by nearly 7 years (1).

While foods like fiber (2) and tea (3) have been shown to help maintain heart health, a new study (4) suggests that combining CoQ10 with selenium may provide long-term heart benefits. The 10-year study involved 443 elderly Swedish subjects (225 men, 218 women) aged 78 to 88 (5). They were given either 200 milligrams of CoQ10 and 200 micrograms of selenium per day for the first four years of the study (221 subjects). The 222 other subjects were followed for the full 10 years but did not receive any supplementation. Throughout the study, each subject continued to take any prescription medications they were on before the study began.

After 10 years, the researchers, found “significantly reduced cardiovascular mortality” in the CoQ10-Selenium group, with a 49% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease (p = 0.0003) and a 49% reduced risk of death from heart disease (p = 0.04) compared to the placebo group. The researchers did not cite any reduced risks immediately after the four-year supplementation period but instead focused on benefits after supplementation had ceased.

When suggesting how CoQ10 and selenium elicit these healthful benefits, the researchers admitted “the mechanism explaining the persistency remains to be elucidated.” However, they pointed to studies showing that an “adequate presence of coenzyme Q10” is needed for proper function of selenium-containing proteins called enzymes (6) as well as CoQ10’s benefits to blood vessel health (7) and both its powerful antioxidant (8) and anti-inflammatory (9) properties.

For the researchers, “In a 10-year follow-up of a group of healthy elderly participants given four years of intervention with selenium and coenzyme Q10, significantly reduced cardiovascular mortality was observed. The protective action was not confined to the intervention period, but persisted during the follow-up period”. However, the researchers added that “Since this was a small study, the observations should be regarded as hypothesis-generating.”

Source: Alehagen U, Aaseth J, Johansson P (2015) Reduced Cardiovascular Mortality 10 Years after Supplementation with Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 for Four Years: Follow-Up Results of a Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial in Elderly Citizens. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0141641. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141641

© 2015 Alehagen et al. Creative Commons Attribution License

Click here to read the full text study.

 Posted April 25, 2016.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com. 

References:

  1. “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on the CDC website.
  2. Threapleton DE.  Dietary fibre intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis BMJ. 2013 Dec 19;347:f6879. doi: 10.1136/bmj.f6879.
  3. Lenore A.  Tea consumption and cardiovascular disease risk.  Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2013 doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.059345
  4. Alehagen U. Reduced Cardiovascular Mortality 10 Years after Supplementation with Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 for Four Years: Follow-Up Results of a Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial in Elderly Citizens. PLoS One 2015 Dec 1;10(12):e0141641. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141641. eCollection 2015.
  5. Alehagen U, Johansson P, Bjornstedt M, Rosen A, Dahlstrom U. Cardiovascular mortality and N-terminal-proBNP reduced after combined selenium and coenzyme Q10 supplementation: a 5-year prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial among elderly Swedish citizens. Int J Cardiol 2013; 167(5):1860–6.
  6. Xia L, Nordman T, Olsson JM, Damdimopoulos A, Bjorkhem-Bergman L, Nalvarte I, et al. The mammaliancytosolic selenoenzyme thioredoxin reductase reduces ubiquinone. A novel mechanism for defense against oxidative stress. J Biol Chem. 2003; 278(4):2141–6
  7. Gao L, Mao Q, Cao J, Wang Y, Zhou X, Fan L. Effects of coenzyme Q10 on vascular endothelial function in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Atherosclerosis. 2012; 221(2):311–6
  8. Bullon P, Roman-Malo L, Marin-Aguilar F, Alvarez-Suarez JM, Giampieri F, Battino M, et al. Lipophilic antioxidants prevent lipopolysaccharide-induced mitochondrial dysfunction through mitochondrial biogenesis improvement. Pharmacol Res. 2015; 91:1–8
  9. Lee BJ, Tseng YF, Yen CH, Lin PT. Effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation (300 mg/day) on antioxidation and anti-inflammation in coronary artery disease patients during statins therapy: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nutr J. 2013; 12(1):142