Why you should know about CoQ10 if you are taking a statin.
Most Americans have heard of statins, a group of drugs commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol levels. But many people are not familiar with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), the micronutrient that is known to be depleted by most people who take statins. In fact, the original patent for statins (AKA “HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors”) acknowledged this as early as 1990; however, this is still not widely known today. CoQ10 (AKA ubiquinone because it is so ubiquitous in the body) is a substance that creates energy, the most fundamental of all cell functions. Tissues with a high energy requirement – heart, liver and muscles – require CoQ10 to work. If these cells don’t have sufficient CoQ10, a person may eventually experience fatigue, muscular pains, or both.
