More evidence that Coenzyme Q10 protects the brain

Coenzyme Q10 is manufactured in the body and is needed to create energy. Research shows that Coenzyme Q10 protects the brain, has anti-cancer effects, helps prevent migraine headaches, improves periodontal disease, and protects kidney and heart function while improving blood pressure. The body's manufacture of Coenzyme Q10 begins to drop after the age of about 20 and a number of drugs, particularly the statin drugs, decrease the body's level of Coenzyme Q10. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University, along with researchers from India and South Carolina investigated the benefits of Coenzyme Q10 in rats with brain damage. Two groups of rats were given an injection of streptozotocin into their brains to cause Alzheimer's type of damage. One group was also given Coenzyme Q10 supplementation by mouth. Three weeks after the injection the rats were showing a loss of cognitive function. There was a significant decrease in energy production in the brains of these rats. However, rats given Coenzyme Q10 supplementation after the injection showed no cognitive deterioration and in fact performed as well as rats not given the injection into the brain (the control group of rats). The study appears in a current issue of the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

Commentary by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.

Yesterday we reported that taking a combination of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and ibuprofen prevented the onset of Alzheimer's disease in patients who inherited a gene from their parents that puts them at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Research supports the traditional use of Goji berry in China, as an aphrodisiac and aid to fertility

Lycium barbarum, often called Goji berry, is a famous traditional Chinese medicinal herb often used for male infertility. Rat testicals were exposed to heat (a known cause of decreased sperm count and viability), and also to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which damages DNA, Other rats were hemicastrated (partially castrated) and the effect of Lycium barbarum was investigated on their sexual behavior and reproductive function. The Lycium barbarum provided a protective effect against the testicular tissue damage caused by heat. Lycium significantly improved testicular weight and the weight of the epididymis, improved Superoxide Dismutase activity and raised sex hormone levels in the damaged testicles. Lycium protected against H2O2 induced DNA damage in the testicles. Lycium improved copulatory performance and reproductive function in partially castrated rats. It improved organ weight and performance, improved sperm quantity and quality. The time before performance also improved. The study supports the folk use of Lycium barbarum as an aphrodisiac and as a fertility-facilitating agent. The study appears in the March 6th, 2006 issue of the journal Life Sciences .