Parkinson's disease - Ubiquinol and low dose naltrexone

How to use CoQ10 to completely stop the progression of Parkinson's disease.

When Parkinson's disease first shows up, it's very mild. But as time goes by, the symptoms progress to the point where they are completely incapacitating. If only there was a way to stop the progression of the disease. Well, there is.

Parkinson's is a mitochondrial disease. Mitochondria are the energy-producing parts of the cell. Every cell in your body has thousands of mitochondria. As long as the mitochondria are working efficiently, the cells (and you) will have boundless amounts of energy.

But as we get older, mitochondrial efficiency decreases. And as this happens, two things occur. First, the cells become deprived of energy and we start to function a lot like a flashlight with a weak battery. Second, poorly functioning mitochondria are the primary cause of the free radical damage that not only causes Parkinson's disease, but every other neurological disease associated with aging.

Although there are a number of nutrients that must be present in adequate amounts in order for the mitochondria to be working well, perhaps none are more important than coenzyme Q10. Most Parkinson's patients are very familiar with CoQ10. The fact that it slows the progression of Parkinson's is nothing new. But I'm going to show you a way to use it to completely stop the progression of Parkinson's.

First, let's look at how CoQ10 works. CoQ10 is essential for the first two phases of mitochondrial energy production called complex I and complex II.

Scientists at the University of California in San Diego recently examined the effects of CoQ10 supplements in patients with Parkinson's. They studied 80 patients with early Parkinson's disease. Their symptoms were so mild that none of them needed medication. Then they divided them into four groups. One group took 300 mg of CoQ10 each day, one group 600 mg, one group 1,200 mg, and one group took a placebo pill. The researchers then watched what happened over the next 16 months.

At the end of the trial, the patients who received the largest dose of CoQ10 demonstrated an impressive 44% slower rate of decline compared to the placebo group. Even the people getting the smaller doses had less disability than the placebo group. But the benefits were greatest in the 1,200 mg group.

Now for the easiest way to completely stop the progression of this nasty disease, I have been recommending a daily dose of 2,000 mg of CoQ10 to all of my patients with Parkinson's for several years now. And although I do not have a double-blind, placebo-controlled study like these researchers, so far this dose has completely stopped the progression of the disease in every patient who has tried it. It really is that simple!

You can find high-potency forms of CoQ10 online and in health food stores. Vitaline makes a high-dose product that researchers have used in many studies on Parkinson's disease.

There's also a new form of CoQ10 called ubiquinol that's better absorbed. Studies show that it's absorbed eight times more efficiently than regular CoQ10. So 50 mg of ubiquinol provides virtually the same high blood levels of CoQ10 as the regular form. To reach the equivalent of 2,000 mg per day of regular CoQ10, you would need to take eight soft gels daily. You can order ubiquinol by following this link.

As of September 2003, Dr. Bihari reported that there were seven patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) in his practice, all of whom have shown no progression since beginning LDN. Indeed, two of them have shown clear evidence of improvement in signs and symptoms.

Two people with PD, the first patients with that disorder known to have been treated with LDN, have had good results that persist after more than two years on LDN. One patient, a man in his mid-60's from New Jersey, had his first annual revisit to Dr. Bihari for a check-up in April 2002. His wife reported that, in contrast to all the other members of his PD monthly group meeting, he seemed to have shown no deterioration in his functional abilities throughout the prior year. On a thorough neurological examination, Dr. Bihari found improvement in some signs of his Parkinson's Disease. Among these was now the absence of the glabellar sign, a primitive reflex that is consistently found in those with PD and which the patient had demonstrated the year before on his initial examination.

Another patient with PD is a 48-year-old male who began LDN in December 2000. Because he was seeing no improvement in his condition (although he wasn't getting any worse), he discontinued LDN in early March 2002. He called Bihari in mid-May 2002 because he was now beginning to see, for the first time in over a year, worsening of his PD symptoms. In those three months, the disease manifested increased tremor and rigidity in the involved arm. He resumed LDN and over the following two months experienced reversal of the progression that had occurred off of the drug. He was also able to reduce his dopamine-analogue medication by two-thirds, relieving the depression that it was producing.