CoenzymeQ10 & Huntington's Disease:
Huntington’s is an inherited genetic
disease that destroys neurons in brain regions governing movement.
Symptoms include involuntary movements, lack of coordination and
cognitive difficulties.
Huntington’s disease is thought to
involve a bioenergetic defect. A pilot study conducted by Beal and
associates showed that energy production in the central nervous system
and muscle of Huntington’s disease patients is impaired. After two or
more months of Coenzyme Q10 supplementation (360 mg per day), 83% of
patients showed significant improvements in biochemical markers of
energy production.
In 1997, a multicenter clinical trial
began comparing Coenzyme Q10 and the drug remacemide, each at 600 mg per
day, in early stage Huntington’s disease. The results of this two and a
half year study are due to be released in mid August as this magazine
goes to press. Preliminary media reports indicate that the drug
remacemide (a glutamate blocker) had no effect on the decline in Total
Functional Capacity of Huntington’s Disease patients, and was found to
confer no clinical benefit. On the other hand, Coenzyme Q10 slowed the
decline by 13%, and also slowed decline on the Huntington’s Disease
Independence Scale by 17%. Reports indicate that these results showed a
trend toward significance but are regarded as inconclusive. The
Huntington Study Group, which organized the study, hopes to conduct a
larger trial in order to determine whether Coenzyme Q10 therapy does
significantly reduce the rate of decline in the early stages of the
disease.
See References
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