 |
 |
I just read your interesting description of what goes on in the cell (mostly in the mitochondrion) to produce energy (ATP) for the body's use. You developed some nice analogies that are pretty easy to follow. I am a biochemical geneticist and my special interest is mitochondrial disease so I know about Coenzyme Q or NADH, as you call it, and I work on a daily basis with patients who have disorders of energy metabolism. In answer to your question about taking in more glucose for the CoQ to breakdown into ATP, it probably won't work quite as you expect. Added CoQ should just help out in the production of ATP if there is a defect in the process to begin with. It won't necessarily beef up or augment the whole process just because you "add more fuel to the fire" by taking in more glucose. If this were true, we all could just have boundless energy by increasing our intake of CoQ and of glucose and other substrates (lipids, proteins,etc.) and it just doesn't happen unless there is a deficit to begin with because all of these reactions are so carefully controlled and monitored by nature. Since some (not all) patients with Parkinson's disease have been shown to have deficits (modest) in mitochondrial function in certain body cells, like their platelets (which may not have any clinical impact on the patient), it stands to reason that enhancements of mitochondrial function may help in some cases but this has not, to my knowledge, been studied scientifically as yet in a controlled blind study of PD patients. Does anyone know of such published studies? References? Thanks. Hope this 10 cents worth contributes. Delana Vaughan [log in to unmask]