A FOOD supplement could potentially help millions of people suffering from Type 2 diabetes to manage their condition and some of the complications associated with it, according to a recent study.
Supplementation with the co-enzyme Ubiquinone Q10 can ‘significantly improve’ blood sugar control in Type 2 diabetics, as well as helping sufferers who take statins or have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to an article in The British Journal of Diabetes. The study comes in the wake of figures showing diabetes as the fastest growing health crisis in the UK with the number of sufferers doubling to 3.7 million in the last 20 years with a further 12.3 million at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Ubiquinone Q10
The co-enzyme Ubiquinone Q10 is a vitamin-like substance which plays a vital role in the body’s energy supply mechanism, acting alongside enzymes converting fats and sugars into energy. Heart and skeletal muscles have the highest energy requirements of all tissues and are particularly reliant on adequate supplies of Q10 as a result.
Ubiquinone Q10 is also an antioxidant, protecting cells from the potentially damaging effects of toxic free radicals, but production of Ubiquinone Q10 in the body declines with age and Type 2 diabetics are often found to have lower levels of the substance.
The British Journal of Diabetes
The British Journal piece on Ubiquinone Q10 and diabetes pointed to a number of different clinical studies which showed how Type 2 diabetes sufferers who took Ubiquinone Q10 supplements of between 100mg and 200mg a day over a two to three-month period saw their conditions improve.
The results included:
- significantly improved long-term blood sugar and blood pressure control
- significantly reduced glycated haemoglobon (HbA1c) levels, thereby reducing the risk of developing diabetes-related complications
- significantly improved fasting plasma glucose levels (a blood sugar level several hours after eating)
In addition, overweight or obese Type 2 diabetics in one clinical study saw their waist sizes and weights fall after regularly taking Ubiquinone Q10 supplements. Other studies have shown the benefits of Ubiquinone Q10 in tackling some of the complications resulting from diabetes, such as an increased risk of damage to blood vessels in the body, which can result in feet and lower leg ulcers and heart and kidney problems.
"The body of evidence pointing to the potentially beneficial effects of Ubiquinone Q10 supplements for Type 2 diabetes sufferers is substantial."
Blood vessel damage is linked to free radical-induced damage caused by oxidative stress. Q10’s role as a powerful antioxidant has been shown to be beneficial to diabetes sufferers in a number of clinical studies, including one which showed a significant improvement in oxidative stress symptoms in diabetes patients and another where diabetes patients showed significantly improved circulation after taking Ubiquinone Q10 supplements.
Author - Dr David Mantle
Dr David Mantle, author of the study in The British Journal of Diabetes, said: “The body of evidence pointing to the potentially beneficial effects of Ubiquinone Q10 supplements for Type 2 diabetes sufferers is substantial.
“As the article outlines, controlled clinical trials have shown significant benefits in blood sugar control and vascular function for Type 2 diabetics who have taken Ubiquinone Q10 on a regular basis. Ubiquinone Q10 is also generally well tolerated with no serious adverse effects reported in long-term use and its safety has also been documented in over 200 randomised controlled trials in a wide range of disorders. Taken together, these results are certainly something worth considering by Type 2 diabetes sufferers and healthcare professionals involved in treating and managing the condition.”
Dr Mantle’s article - ‘Coenzyme Q10 supplementation for diabetes and its complications: an overview’ - also looks at Q10’s effects on statins and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The article points out that statins, which are prescribed to reduce level of ‘bad’ cholesterol in patients, can inhibit the body’s production of Q10 so supplementation can help to make up for that potential shortfall. Blood Q10 levels have been found to be depleted in NAFLD patients with the lower levels of Q10 matched by increased liver inflammation and cirrhosis.
In a recent randomised controlled trial, NAFLD patients who took Ubiquinone Q10 supplements for three months were found to have significantly reduced levels of markers indicating liver damage and inflammation. With an estimated 20% to 30% of the population thought to suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, this has the potential to affect many lives.
Outside of these conditions, Ubiquinone Q10 supplementation has been shown to produce some remarkable results in clinical trials on heart disease patients. The KiSel10 study found a 50% reduction in cardiovascular deaths over a five-year period amongst people taking a combination of Ubiquinone Q10 and Selenium. The Q-SYMBIO trial showed a 43% reduction in cardiovascular deaths from heart patients taking Ubiquinone Q10 as well as seeing significant improvements in the severity of many of their conditions.
The form of Ubiquinone Q10 used in both of these trials was Bio-Quinone Q10 from Pharma Nord, which is also the reference product for international Q10 research and has been used in over 100 clinical trials.
Dr Mantle, who is a Medical Advisor at Pharma Nord UK, said: “For Q10 supplementation to be effective, it needs to be absorbed by the body – what is known as bioavailability. Because of its relatively large molecular size, the bioavailability of Q10 is intrinsically low.”
A number of clinical trials, including a study carried out by scientists at the University of Sevilla in Spain, have shown that this patented formulation delivers superior bioavailability compared to other Ubiquinone Q10 supplements.
As seen in the Daily Express Online.
* References available on request
