[net.med] What are some of these new pills?

roy@gitpyr.UUCP (Roy Mongiovi) (11/24/85)

Can anyone give me some information about any of the following
substances?  I've seen ads for some of them and heard vague
promises about others, does anyone have any real info?

	1) Coenzyme Q-10
	2) N,N Dimethylglycine
	3) Octocosanol
	4) Superoxide Dismutase

I mean, what ARE these things?
							Roy
-- 
Roy J. Mongiovi.	Office of Computing Services.		User Services.
Georgia Institute of Technology.	Atlanta GA  30332.	(404) 894-6163
 ...!{akgua, allegra, amd, hplabs, ihnp4, masscomp, ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!roy

werner@aecom.UUCP (12/03/85)

> Can anyone give me some information about any of the following
> substances?  I've seen ads for some of them and heard vague
> promises about others, does anyone have any real info?
> 
> 	1) Coenzyme Q-10
	Also known as CoenzymeQ (the 10 refers to a chain length of a tail, 
which is actually variable. It is also called Ubiquinone - since it is a
Quinone - and it is ubiquitous in nature.  It is the first step in the electron
transport chain in all cells - plant or animal or bacteria, and hence essential
for all energy utilization.  Since everything you eat is either plant or
animal, your diet is chock full of it, so to use a supplement is of dubious
value at best,  but it is all the rage for food faddists....


> 	4) Superoxide Dismutase
	This converts Superoxide radicals (the fiendish Free Radicals that will
age you, cause all known diseases, including cancer, and lose the war for the
Allies) into Hydrogen Peroxide, which is then converted by Catalase to harmless
water.  It is incidentally needed by the Immune system (Neutrophils) but it
is produced endogenously, and besides, as a protein, would never make it past
the stomach anyway if taken by mouth.

	The other two - I never heard of, either.
> 
> I mean, what ARE these things?
> 							Roy
-- 

				Craig Werner
				!philabs!aecom!werner
                      "It's tough to incriminate a bread mold."

wurzelma@aecom.UUCP (John Wurzelmann) (12/03/85)

	As luck would have it, I am currently involved in the clinical
testing of Coenzyme Q-10 for the treatment of angina pectoris. Our trials
are still in progress and still double-blinded, so it's impossible to
say anything concrete about the efficacy of this medication, but I must
say that it is the gut feeling of those of us who are involved that the
drug will not pan out as a useful treatment for angina. On the other hand,
the drug has apparently done well in clinical trials in Japan. A review on
this subject is currently being written by Drs. William Frishman, Steven
Greenberg and David Jacobs, and should be appearing in Cardiovascular
Reviews and Reports sometime early next year. For the time being however,
I would not recommend that anyone take this medication for any reason.

						John Wurzelmann