So what is Co-enzyme Q 10 and why does it matter? Reading the abstract on the impact of the drugs for treating osteoporosis I came across this lovely phrase “It has escaped notice that the pathway N-BPs block is central for the endogenous synthesis of coenzyme Q10, an integral enzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and an important lipid-soluble antioxidant.”
The authors were suggesting that some of the awful side effects of the osteoporosis drugs, such as ” osteonecrosis of the jaw, musculoskeletal pain, and atypical fractures of long bones” could be associated with this disruption of these pathways, and supplementation of Co-enzyme Q10 and Vit E might prevent or reverse this effect.
I had noticed coenzyme Q 10 on supplement packets, and, rather amazingly, the general ‘women over 50’s’ basic supplement I bought yesterday has the stuff in. I haven’t taken any general multivitamin/mineral supplements before, but had started as I was feeling so unwell following my wrist surgery.
It looks as if low co-enzyme Q-10 is implicated in neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons, so getting low on that really doesn’t seem like a good idea. A quick look didn’t bring up any research showing any increase or not in these diseases in people on osteoporosis medications, but that would be worth following up.
I don’t usually link through to Wikipedia, but they do have a lot of information on Co-enzyme Q-10- most of which suggests that it doesn’t do much or turns out not to be in supplements that claim to have it. Another area for a bit more research. As far as food sources go – well, heart (ideally not fried) seems to be the food with the highest concentration, but for those of us that don’t want to start eating that …then broccoli and spinach and avocado and olive oil do pretty well too.
So, another post that shows that I know very little…
demholeybones 