Millions of Americans are on cholesterol-lowering drugs known as Statins. This includes drugs like Lipitor®, Mevacor®, Zocor®, Crestor®, Lescol®,or Pravachol®. Interesting enough, patients are almost never told about the negative or potential negative problems associated with statin use. One of the concerning ones is the depletion of a very important molecule in your body known as Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

CoQ10 is an extremely important antioxidant and energy producing molecule. High concentrations of CoQ10 are naturally found in both the heart and the brain. There is little argument that adequate amounts of CoQ10 are very important for proper heart and brain function. Numerous studies show that statin drug use decreases the levels of CoQ10 in our body.

So, why do doctors not routinely tell their patients about this important depletion when they prescribe a statin drug? The answer is because they have not been convinced that this depletion should be of concern. The argument given to me by a number of doctors is that there are no studies proving that the depletion of CoQ10 from statin drug use has any important negative effects. And, they are not wrong. There is no study showing that this depletion of CoQ10 by statin drugs is directly responsible for a specific health problem. There are two reasons for this lack of a definite study, in my opinion. The first is that such a study would be extremely difficult to do since the negative effects of the long-term lowering of CoQ10 in the brain or heart could take decades to develop. The second reason is that identifying such a problem is not in the interest of the pharmaceutical industry. They have gone to great lengths to downplay the impact that reduced CoQ10 levels may have on the population taking their statin drugs.

Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D. (Neurologist) put it this way in his book, “The Better Brain Book”:

“Having low CoQ10 levels means more free radical damage to your brain, less energy for the brain to do its work, more tired, sluggish brain cells that don’t learn, think, or remember as well as they should, and a greater susceptibility to neurological diseases.”

And:

"If you want to maintain optimal brain function, it’s imperative that you protect and maintain your CoQ10 levels. Low levels of CoQ10 are linked to Parkinson’s disease and may accelerate brain aging. My point is, most people need more CoQ10, not less!”

My suggestion is that you immediately consider taking 100 mg of CoQ10 per day if you are taking a statin drug. Go to the ZimmerNutrition.com store to buy stabilized and potent CoQ10.