
Four years of daily supplementation with 200 micrograms of a patented high-selenium yeast and 200 milligrams of Coenzyme Q10 (in divided doses: 2 x 100 milligrams) has lowered the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease significantly by 54% (p=0.02) [Alehagen 2013].
The study participants were senior citizens aged 70-88 years (average age: 78 years) who were still able to live at home.
Professor Urban Alehagen and a team of researchers from Linköping University in Sweden randomly assigned the senior citizens to take the active treatment (selenium plus Coenzyme Q10) or matching placebos in a double-blind clinical study named the KiSel-10 Study [Alehagen 2013].
Improved Heart Function with Coenzyme Q10 and Selenium
Compared to the senior citizens in the placebo group, the senior citizens in the active treatment group had a significant improvement in heart function as measured on echocardiograms compared to placebo (p=0.03) and a significant improvement in a biochemical marker, NT-proBNP (p=0.014). NT-proBNP is a reliable indicator for heart disease; the heart muscle typically produces more of the NT-proBNP protein whenever the heart is exposed to stress or injury [Alehagen 2013].