Can the supplement Coenzyme Q10 help older women get pregnant? According to an article appearing on CTV.ca, the website for Canada’s largest private television broadcast network, preliminary evidence suggests it may be true.
The supplement, more commonly known as CoQ10, re-creates a vitamin-like substance that occurs naturally in every cell of the human body and is essential to the manufacture of energy at the cellular level. Levels of the substance drop as we age, which has led to its availability in supplement form. CoQ10 supplements are often prescribed to help people recover from heart surgery, and mounting evidence suggests that it can play a significant role in preventing heart disease as well as treating and preventing a number of age-related disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, and Alzheimer’s disease.
A preliminary fertility study associated with Mt. Sinai Hospital suggests that supplemental CoQ10 may also have a positive effect on the eggs of aging female animals. In the study, the eggs of middle-aged female mice who were given supplemental CoQ10 appeared to rejuvenate, and they became pregnant more frequently and had more babies in their litters.
The outstanding results obtained with mice have led the Toronto Centre for Advanced Reproductive Technology to organize a similar study with human subjects. According to the article, researchers are in the midst of a trial on older women undergoing in-vitro fertilization, with some getting a placebo, the others getting the supplement. The study will test whether taking 1,200 mg of CoQ10 a day can lead to a higher number of chromosomally normal eggs.
For more details on these studies, you can read the entire article here. Although there is currently no official Recommended Dietary Allowance for CoQ10, clinical trials using doses as small as 30 mg per day have been associated with measureable improvements in patients with heart failure. The 1,200 mg dosage being tested in the study should not necessarily be treated as a general guideline for CoQ10 supplementation. Experts differ in their recommendations, and it’s important to check with your own physician before taking supplements of any kind.
