Supplement may slow Parkinson's disease

CHICAGO, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers are studying whether taking the supplement co-enzyme Q10 may help slow Parkinson's disease.

The Phase III clinical randomized trail builds on previous work associating the progression of Parkinson's disease and a lack of co-enzyme Q10 -- a substance naturally produced in the body and key to its metabolic processes, such as cell energy production, and the "mopping up" of harmful substances produced by the processes.

"At present, the very best therapies we have for Parkinson's can only mask the symptoms -- they do not alter the underlying disease," one of the trial leaders, Dr. Katie Kompoliti of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, said in a statement. "Finding a treatment that can slow the degenerative course of Parkinsons's is the holy grail of Parkinson's research."

In this study, 600 patients will be enrolled at 60 centers in the United States and Canada. Two dosages of co-enzyme Q10 are being tested -- 1,200 mg and 2,400 mg delivered in maple nut-flavored chewable wafers that also contain vitamin E.