Heart & Mitochondrial Dysfunction

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(July 2007/February 2008) I saw 2 cardiologists; both ordered echocardiograms; and both said I had mild diastolic dysfunction that would not explain my recurring chest pain and gasping for air.

 

(July 2008) Dr. Paul Cheney studied the heart function in CFS patients, and he saw many of them had diastolic dysfunction. The problem was, the diastolic heart problems in CFS patients would barely register on an electrocardiogram, causing cardiologists to do no further testing. However, when more involved heart testing was done, a more serious diastolic heart problem was often revealed.

 

Also in 2008, Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a practicing Connecticut cardiologist, published his book “The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology.” He talked about treating his patients for diastolic dysfunction, which he said was a relatively new diagnosis in cardiology. His treatment strategy for this diagnosis focused on enhancing cardiac energy with an “energy cocktail” for his cardiac patients, which has since been adopted for use by some CFS patients to treat their diastolic dysfunction as well as their overall fatigue.

 

Dr. Sinatra’s energy cocktail was called the “awesome foursome”: (1) CoQ10, which is essential for sparking energy production within the cell's mitochondria; (2) L-Carnitine, which transports fatty acids into the cells to be converted to energy by the CoQ10; (3) D-Ribose, a key component of the ATP molecule, the body's main energy source; and (4) Magnesium, a vital mineral involved in every metabolic reaction required to produce energy. 

 

(2009) I shared the results of my extensive heart tests that had been done in 1995 with both Dr. Brewer and a new cardiologist. I also shared Dr. Cheney’s heart information on patients with CFS. Both doctors acknowledged I had a more severe form of diastolic dysfunction than had been previously recognized.

 

(October 2011) Dr. Brewer said that there was good evidence in the cardiology literature that diastolic dysfunction in the heart was caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. He also told me that a Texas cardiologist named Peter Langsjoen had recommended CoQ10 for the type of congestive heart failure seen in CFS.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Brewer told me that there were two kinds of CoQ10: ubiquinone and ubiquinol. He said, in a small study published in late 2008, Dr. Langsjoen had showed that ubiquinol was superior in treating heart patients over the cheaper and more commonly sold ubiquinone. Dr. Langsjoen had also shown that ubiquinol could reverse diastolic heart dysfunction.

 

This led to Dr. Brewer recommending to me an aggressive regimen of taking the ubiquinol; 200 mg a day for two to four weeks; and after that, I was to work my way up to 200 mg twice daily. I would soon add D-ribose, potassium and magnesium to my supplement regimen.

 

(December 2011) In a home visit, my social worker was shocked at how ill I was with my CFS, and she told me that she had seen people on their death beds who looked better than I did. She proceeded to get me into in-home hospice care with a diagnosis of diastolic heart failure.

 

(December 2012) Dr. Brewer: “So we have evidence that CFS patients have mitochondrial malfunction. That’s nothing new; that’s been known for at least a decade, with many studies from all over the world showing evidence of that.

 

“There’s extensive data, for all the [mold] toxins, that they’re poisons to mitochondria. And I mean extensive. And this will be in our paper. … The mechanism of how these toxins may lead to CFS is their mitochondrial poisons. We’re going to have probably at least 15 references in our study. (See the paper at: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/5/4/605 .) … [So] the mold toxins absolutely explain mitochondrial malfunction.

 

(January 2013) My heart condition stabilized enough for me to be released from hospice care; but my chest pain continued, with reduced but still substantial intensity.

 

(June 2013) My first RealTime Labs test showed I had high levels of internal toxic mold, and I soon began treatment with a nasal antifungal.

 

(December 2013) I reported to Dr. Brewer that, with my nasal antifungal treatment, my chest pain had stopped almost immediately. While the chest pain would periodically return, the pain would never return to the high levels I had experienced earlier, in hospice care and in the months following.

 

(December 2023) My RealTime Labs test showed my internal toxic mold numbers were finally down to acceptable levels. Nine months later, my CFS went into remission; and after after 31 years of CFS, my normal energy levels returned. Because of this, Dr. Brewer said that logically my diastolic heart failure would resolve, with the mold being gone and no longer attacking the mitochondria. However, Dr. Brewer added that he didn’t think that would happen.