AboutCrystal Fawn PA-C Physician Assistant Expertise You can be assured that I can answer 95% of your nutrition & dieting questions related to
medical conditions (ie. Is the South Beach diet safe if I have renal disease?), fitness
modelling industry (I have had several top 3 finishes in world & international natural
fitness & figure competitions), real-life applications of nutrition/exercise (ie. A practical
approach for busy professionals who want to get toned & fit!), personal issues (eating
disorders, psychological barriers, motivation issues), obesity & preventative nutrition
(treating & reversing obesity, problems of obesity, how to prevent major health problems
through proper nutrition/exercise). Since I am a physician assistant, I am able to provide a
diagnosis.
Experience Physician Assistant (diagnose & treat diseases/symptoms), natural (drug-free) fitness & figure competitor in national & international competitions, fitness model for print, internet & audio publications, former competitve figure skater for almost 10 yrs, weight training for over 10 yrs
Organizations AAPA (American Academy of Physician Assistant)
Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society Alumni
Publications Fitness & Sports Network
Education/Credentials Physician Assistant PA-C Florida: graduated Suma Cum Laude
HBA Psychology Degree-Magna Cum Laude
Awards and Honors Graduated Suma Cum Laude in Physician Assistant Program, and graduated with highest GPA
Graduated Magna Cum Laude in HBA Psychology Degree
Phi Theta Kappa Alumni Member (high GPA honors)
volunteer work at Baptist Hospital, Miami, Florida
Question QUESTION: I read much about the benefits of CoQ10, especially for the heart health. There are claims that CoQ10 inhibits blood clot formation. However, these claims contradict other claims that CoQ10 has properties similar to K2, in that it can be a coagulant. How can CoQ10 be a blood clot inhibitor and a coagulant at the same time? If Coq10 diminishes the effectiveness of a blood thinner drug (coumadin, for example), one can deduct that Coq10 is, indeed, a coagulant? Therefore, if coq10 is a coagulant (causes blood clots), how can it be beneficial to the cardiovascular system? Can you please clarify the confusion or these contradicting claims?
ANSWER: Hi Dominic,
CoQ10 is similar in structure to Vitamin K, and may possibly initiate the clotting cascade, causing clots to form more easily, and thus blocking the effects of coumadin (anti-coagulants). "Blood thinner" is really a misnomer; coumadin doesn't make your blood runnier or thinner, but just inhibits the formation of clotting by blocking the clotting cascade.
So yes, if you are on coumadin, you probably shouldn't use CoQ10!
As far as CoQ10 claims for inhibiting blood clot formation, I haven't any evidence for this; if you can provide a website with that information, I would appreciate this.
However, the "claimed" cardiovascular benefits of CoQ10 are that it helps to lower blood pressure, and may be good for certain types of cardiac disease, such as heart failure. However, the research in this area is sketchy at best; no cause or effect has been proven to date. For example, it has been found that people with high blood pressure have low levels of naturally occurring CoQ10, but this doesn't prove that increasing CoQ10 will lower blood pressure definitively.
I hope this clears up your confusion about CoQ10, Dominic.
Crystal
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hello Crystal,
Thanks for the response.
The following website suggests that CoQ10 inhibits blood clot formation:
This is scary, as I was planning on taking CoQ10 for my high level of cholesterol as well as for my heart health. But if CoQ10 is prone to causing clots more easily, how can one recommend it to someone with heart-related issues? Blood clots can lead to deadly strokes - so, CoQ10 is not safe, even if blood thinners are not taken simultaneously?
I would have preferred CoQ10 over cholestorol lowering drugs, such as Lipotor, but CoQ10's propensity to promote or to cause blood clots makes me wonder - if CoQ10 causes clots, what's the use of having someone, such as a diabetic, with a weak heart take it?
Thanks,
Dominic
Answer Hi Dominic,
Hopefully my answer will clear your confusion. I went to the website to see what you were referring to. Yes indeed, it does say Q (I'm just going to abbreviate CoQ10 as "Q" so I don't have to keep typing it) inhibits blood clot formation. I need more info to see which mechanism of action is involved to answer this seemingly paradoxical question.
I will confirm that YES indeed, Q does effectively inhibit blood clot formation via it's anti-platelet effects. This means that it will reduce the amount of sticky platelets that like to collect and stack up around any kind of cell injury or fatty streaks in our blood vessels (especially for someone like you who has high blood cholesterol, which means you have atherosclerosis, and at higher risk of heart attack, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, etc.) The fatty thrombus (clot formed from cholesterol stuck to the inside of your blood vessels) sometimes comes loose from the vessel wall, causing vessel wall injury. In response to this injury, platelets immediately rush to the area and cover the thrombus, just making it more likely to block your vessels, thus causing a heart attack, stroke, (depends on where the clot is). That's where Q comes in....it prevents the platelets from gathering at the cholesterol plaque and reduces your risk of making that clot and occluding a major blood vessel.
The confusion was when you should not take Q with coumadin because Q has a similar structure to Vitamin K. Coumadin works differently than aspirin does in reducing clots. They work via different clotting pathways in the body. Coumadin blocks vitamin K where aspirin blocks platelets. The only reason for the warning for NOT taking Q is ONLY if you are taking coumadin, because it may render the coumadin useless. It will NOT cause you to have a blood clot in a normal person that is not taking coumadin.
Let's look at it this way: vitamin K is recommended for most people because it helps the blood to clot better in case of an injury. It does not cause a person to have a blood clot that will cause a heart attack; it's only for injury related clotting to save your life from excessive bleeding, like when you cut your finger or get in a an accident. You need to have good levels of Vitamin K for proper clotting (in this case, clotting is not dangerous, it is necessary for life!). The only problem arises when people have certain conditions such as atrial fibrillation where the blood is pooling in their heart, and is more likely to start clotting; this presents a danger, because if the clot enters the heart, it can block the lungs or cause stroke. But in this case, the problem isn't with the person' clotting mechanism (they don't have thick blood or anything like that); the problem is that their heart is not working correctly as a pump, and so anything that causes the blood to pool will automatically start making clots more likely. So in this case, this patient has to be prescribed coumadin only because their blood is pooling, not because they have thick blood or a propensity to develop clots any more than the average person. In this specific case, they have to take coumadin to prevent the pooling-induced clots, and if they take Q, it might block the life-saving effect of the coumadin.
In no way though should Q cause you to actually have a dangerous/pathological blood clot as you are referring to; only healthy normal clotting that is necessary to keep you from bleeding to death from an injury. So think of Q like Vitamin K....it's healthy and essential for life, and protects you from bleeding to death, but will not cause you to have an atherosclerotic plaque leading to heart attack stroke. Q causes similar effects to aspirin (inhibits platelets).
Although this was a lengthy discussion, it was necessary to fully explain to you the pathways of clotting, so that you understand exactly what is happening in the body.
Please let me know if this answer was satisfactory, ok Dominic?
Good luck!!!!
ps. Lipitor and other statins are often co-prescribed with Q, so they actually work synergistically.
