Nutraceuticals and nootropics for anti-aging

Coenzyme Q10 for preventing migraines

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a substance found in various biological membranes, including the inner membrane of mitochondria (the energy extractor in cells). CoQ10 plays an important role in handling electrons that are derived from fats and sugars during their conversion into biologically useful energy.

Since the mid-1980s researchers have suspected that migraine headaches may, at least sometimes, stem from defects in mitochondrial energy extraction. It was quickly found that supplementation with vitamin B2 (a vitamin involved in mitochondrial activity) can sometimes alleviate migraines.¹

If mitochondrial defects can cause migraines, then other mitochondrial substances besides B2 might bear looking at, as well. The medical research community took several years to bestir itself to test this obvious concept, but we now finally have evidence that CoQ10 also has significant anti-migraine activity.^2,3,4 A dose of 100 mg three times per day of CoQ10 was used.³

References

[1]  Effectiveness of high-dose riboflavin in migraine prophylaxis. A randomized controlled trial. Neurology. 1998 Feb;50(2):466-70

[2]  Open label trial of coenzyme Q10 as a migraine preventive. Cephalalgia. 2002 Mar;22(2):137-41

[3]  Efficacy of coenzyme Q10 in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized controlled trial. Neurology. 2005 Feb 22;64(4):713-5

[4]  Medications for migraine prophylaxis. Am Fam Physician. 2006 Jan 1;73(1):72-8

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LifeLink carries CoQ10 in 30 mg and 90 mg capsules.