CoQ10

I recommend to buy from Dr. Judy at Cyto Med. He will tell you how much to give. Probably one to two gel caps. It should be given in the morning as its purpose is to give an energy boost and presumably it goes in the blood stream right away and has its effect.

Call and talk to Dr. Judy. He is a very kind man and can answer many questions, such as how much to give. My son went on Coq10 at 6 weeks and started moving vigorously 2 days after starting it. She has no proof that it was the CoQ10, but it makes for a good story and he has been on it ever since.

Effects of CoQ10 are really poorly documented. Rumor has it that it improves alertness and increases activity. Rumor has it that it doesn't work for all kids. Rumor has it that it is more effective in infants than in toddlers. My pediatrician agreed that there was no down side to taking it. She has a pet theory that the vitamin E in it is also useful for his muscles and tone.

From experience, squirting in the CoQ10 seems to work well.

It is not clear to me how or why CoQ10 works or even if it works. There are no real studies on it. That said, rarely are there good studies on nutraceuticals. There just is no financial incentive to invest in a clinical study of something that can't be patented. So, I have to agree with the physicians in that there is no proof that it works.

But, it seemed to help my child and I am willing to pay for it ($10/month?) and go through the hassle of administering it. And, most importantly, the physicians I consulted agreed that it can't do any harm.

I spoke about CoQ10 with my doctor. I guess that it is occasionally prescribed for muscle disorders. Both his pediatrician and my geneticist agree that it can do no harm. I was a bit suspicious about it at first. There was a paper published in the J of Pediatrics in spring that tested CoQ10 versus growth hormone. I can give you the citation if you like. This paper legitimized CoQ10 in my eyes. The paper did not show an effect, although the investigators were only measuring growth and you would not expect CoQ10 to effect growth. I emailed the investigators and asked if they had seen a differences in alertness and milestones, etc. They responded that they were in the process of writing up the results for another paper, but wouldn't answer my question. Blah!

The paper also boosted my confidence in Dr. Judy and Cyto-Med as a source because Dr. Judy was cited in that paper. I also spoke with Dr. Judy on the phone and I was impressed with his knowledge. That was the long answer. The short answer is: Yes, I am concerned about source and this source seems ok.

Other parents told me to use CoQ10 and I followed their advice. They had luck with it. Word of mouth is that CoQ10 is most useful in infants and less useful as the child gets older. I have no idea if this is true or not.

I could go on and on about fatty acids. They are important. They are found in breast milk. Only recently are they being put in formula and only in the more expensive lipil formula. They are similar to the cod liver oil that our parents may have given us. There are plant sources of EFA's (i.e. flax) and animal sources (i.e. fish). Animal sources appear to be better absorbed and more effective than plant sources.

These unsaturated fatty acids are easily used by your body to form the brain and the lipid layer around cells. Saturated fats (like butter) compete with unsaturated fats. There is some talk that ingestion of EFAs contributes to brain formation and intelligence. Have you heard about breast fed babies being smarter? If it is true, it is likely due to EFAs? Have you heard of fish being brain food? If this is true it is likely due to EFA's.

Check out the cherab organization web site that I sent in my last post. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about fatty acids and language development. I found this story persuasive.

Finally, there is the role of these EFA's in metabolism. I haven't seen this on this list and as far as I know no one has been talking about this. I would welcome anyone's opinion as this is a stretch for me. But, there are a group of receptors called PPAR. They bind fatty acids and they are involved in numerous diseases including diabetes. Saturated fatty acids appear to bind them and initiate an inflammatory response that can have many bad downstream effects, such as heart disease. Unsaturated fatty acids compete for these receptors and have an anti-inflammatory effect.