Medical Questions » Alternative Medicine Questions » Question No. 36
| Question: | I recently read about Coenzyme Q10 (Ubiquinone), described as an energy-producing, heart-protective anti-oxidant. I would like to know your views on this supplement. |
| Answer: | Doctors have also been inundated with information about this new product, which seems to be the ' in' thing to be taking. Every few years there is a new fad, be it chelation therapy, echinacia or megadose vitamins.
Correctly called ubidecarenone, even its chemical name has been made more catchy by the marketers who claim that it is ubiquitous (everywhere) in the body.
Many claims have been made for this preparation, but most are supported by pseudo-scientific gobbledygook, which is deliberately worded to confuse and obstruct any true scientific debate.
The gold standard for any medication, its side effects and effectiveness is the double blind cross-over trial. In these, half of a group of volunteers are given a tablet that contains the active ingredient, and the other half are given an inert placebo. After a period of time, the two groups are swapped over, but the volunteers, and their immediate supervisors, do not know which tablets are inactive and which are placebo. The reactions of the volunteers are recorded, and a report prepared, and only then are they told which tablets are which.
Not until the manufacturers of this product can demonstrate such a trial has been carried out on a good sized sample by a reputable organisation will I believe their claims.
In the meantime, you can carry out a trial yourself by taking this rather expensive supplement for a month, then stopping it to see if it makes any difference. Unfortunately, I suspect most benefit will occur because you want it to occur (the placebo effect), but on the other hand it is unlikely to cause any harm to you (except to the weight of your wallet or purse) unless you take more than three capsules a day. |
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