Just occasionally something crops up in WDDTY that I happen to know about. The use of Q10 as a treatment for periodontitis (WDDTY vol 7 no 11) has been debunked and I refer you to the enclosed references.
In my mind, this raises questions over the accuracy of the other material in your journal which I read with alarm and despair like, I’m sure, so many others. I suspect that so much of the printed material is of the same quality as the Q10 story. Your type of journal is so very necessary but may I put in a plea for greater caution and more rigorous peer review? Joseph Cohen, Dental Practice, London………
WDDTY replies: We stand by our report. Nutritional Influences on Illness by Dr Melvyn R Werbach (Third Line Press, second edition 1993) lists a host of studies which found that periodontitis sufferers were either deficient in co enzyme Q10 and/or whose condition improved after taking Q10. For example, a review of seven studies found 70 per cent of patients responded favourably to supplementation (Elsevier/ North Holland Biomedical Press, 1977: 294-311). In another, dentists reviewing patients’ progress agreed that the healing of those on supplements was “very impressive”.