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About the book Fighting Cancer: A Survival Guide
conversations and correspondence
Resources: the start of an adventure
If you have cancer; if you're caring for someone who has it
Cancer Treatment: Personal Stories
Readings from the cancer literature
Other cancer books you might find useful
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CoQ10 is a fairly stable compound as long it's kept away from heat and light. We try not to advocate any specific brand of CoQ10 as just about all of the CoQ10 in the US is made by one of two large pharmaceutical companies in Japan (Kaneka and Nisshin) and is of the highest quality and purity from these reputable pharmaceutical companies. Pure dry crystalline CoQ10 powder of orange color is imported to this country and then distributed by numerous US companies who make the CoQ10 either into hard tablets, oil-based gel caps or powder-filled capsules. By and large most of these preparations are fine, particularly if the CoQ10 is taken around the time of a meal or better yet, the hard tablets can be chewed with some fat-containing food or the powder-filled capsules can be opened and shook out on the same and chewed. As far as our own experience with various CoQ10 formulations goes, the CoQ10 product used in the early Langsjoen trials was encapsulated by a Florida based pharmaceutical company into soybean oil gelcaps, but this company does not supply the product anymore. Later, when this product became unavailable, the Langsjoen CoQ10 trials (starting around 1990) were done with a chewable CoQ10 product, made by Vitaline (the tablets were chewed up with some sort of fatty food, such as peanut butter for better absorption) and more recently (1998) with a softgel, made by Tishcon, which does not need to be taken with any fat. Our local pharmacies order their CoQ10 from Jordets (888) 816-7676 and this company also sells by mail order to individuals. Although the safety and utility of CoQ10 in heart disease is well documented, there are only small anecdotal reports on CoQ10 in cancer. Theoretically, CoQ10 may help enhance one's own overall health and immune defense and thus tip the balance favorably. Our local oncologists have no problem with their patients taking CoQ10...some even encourage it as their patients do feel better with improved stamina and less fatigue. The argument is made by some (this argument is only theoretical and it is not backed up by a clinical trial) that CoQ10, via its antioxidant/cell protective properties, may lessen the effectiveness of chemo therapy, and as such, many oncologists tell their patients not to take CoQ10 during chemotherapy, but have no problem with it before or after the chemotherapy. Our experience is in cardiology, not in oncology and we cannot advise anyone to take or not to take CoQ10 for cancer. Hope this helps you out. Sincerely, --Alena Peter H. Langsjoen, MD, FACC, PA |
