Sufficient intakes of Coenzyme Q10 are increasingly important as we age. Our bodies synthesize less and less Coenzyme Q10 as we progress from middle age to our senior years. One estimate is that the CoQ10 status of an 80-year-old man’s heart muscle cells will be about half of what is normal in a 20-year-old man [Alehagen 2015].
Prof. Guillermo Lopez-Lluch says that older people who have more symptoms of fragility also have lower concentrations of Coenzyme Q10 their blood plasma. The study data show that this relationship is more common in women than in men.
Sub-optimal levels of Coenzyme Q10 are associated with ageing, energy insufficiency, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease [Why Humans 2022].
There is a special biological interrelationship between Coenzyme Q10 and selenium. From a cardiologist’s perspective, there is a theoretical advantage in using both substances to prevent heart disease if the patients’ intakes are sub-optimal [Alehagen & Aaseth 2015a].
Four years of daily supplementation of senior citizens with a combination of Coenzyme Q10 and selenium resulted in reduced risk of death from heart disease and in improved heart function.
This advantage has been demonstrated in the outcomes of the KiSel-10 Study, a randomized controlled trial that enrolled elderly community dwelling Swedish citizens, average age 78 years, with known low serum selenium status (mean: 67.1 mcg/L) [Alehagen 2013; Alehagen 2016a; Alehagen 2016b].
Interesting statistics regarding life expectancy and longevity in the United States:
Individuals with no chronic conditions by age 67 years can expect to live another 22.6 years on average.
Individuals aged 67 years with 5 chronic conditions can expect to live 7.7 fewer additional years, on average.
Individuals aged 67 years with 10 or more chronic conditions can expect to live 17.6 fewer additional years, on average.
Our cells’ production of Coenzyme Q10 declines as we get older and older. We need adequate Coenzyme Q10 in our cells to produce ATP energy, to protect against harmful free radicals, and to modulate inflammation.
When the researchers talk about chronic conditions (also called co-morbidities), they are referring to such conditions as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, liver disease, and neurodegenerative diseases, among others.
Supplementation with Coenzyme Q10 has primarily made use of the oxidized form called ubiquinone. It is the stable form of Coenzyme Q10, the form with which all the important clinical studies have been done involving elderly persons, heart failure patients, and Gulf War Illness patients [Alehagen 2013; Golomb 2014; Mortensen 2014].
When we reach the September of our years, our cells synthesize less and less of Coenzyme Q10, the essential bio-nutrient that is needed for ATP energy generation, for antioxidant defense against harmful free radicals, and for anti-inflammatory effects.
In study participants with low baseline selenium status, the combination of Coenzyme Q10 together with the essential trace element selenium appears to reduce the level of oxidative stress and inflammation and to delay or ameliorate the development of some age-related disorders [Aaseth 2021].
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