Tag: Antioxidant

Macular Degeneration and Oxidative Stress

Recently I discovered that an online friend had been diagnosed with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). My instant reaction was ‘I have something that I believe will help.’ But I decided to do a little research to be sure I had my facts right.

What is AMD?

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, “AMD is a common eye condition and a leading cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older. It causes damage to the macula, a small spot near the center of the retina and the part of the eye needed for sharp, central vision, which lets us see objects that are straight ahead.”

AMD is usually first detected with a standard visual acuity test. Other diagnostic tests (e.g., dilated eye exam, Amsler Grid, Fluorescein Angiogram, Optical Coherence Tomography) may be used to confirm the diagnosis and monitor the progress of the condition.

According to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, there are two general types of AMD, the “dry” and the “wet” variety.

  • In the “dry” type of macular degeneration, the deterioration of the retina is associated with the formation of small yellow deposits, known as drusen, under the macula. This phenomenon leads to a thinning and drying out of the macula, causing the macula to lose its function. The amount of central vision loss is directly related to the location and amount of retinal thinning caused by the drusen.
  • In the “wet” type of macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels (known as choroidal neovascularization or CNV) grow under the retina and macula. These new blood vessels may then bleed and leak fluid, causing the macula to bulge or lift up from its normally flat position, thus distorting or destroying central vision. Under these circumstances, vision loss may be rapid and severe.

Apparently there is no known cure for AMD; however there are some treatments that appear to slow its progress, including monthly injections.

Relevance of Oxidative Stress

Research confirms that AMD, as with most chronic diseases, correlates with abnormally low blood glutathione levels – which means the body is experiencing high levels of oxidative stress (Reference 1 and Reference 2). Oxidative stress is a state in which the body has more damaging free radicals than it has the antioxidant capacity to neutralize. High levels of free radicals can do much harm across a variety of the body’s systems, including its visual sensory systems.

Glutathione (rhymes with ‘glue-da-tie-on’) is a molecule that is produced by every living cell in your body. It is necessary for life in every mammal, including humans. If all of the glutathione were to leave your body, you would not survive two seconds. If you don’t have enough glutathione bad things happen, including disease.

Since glutathione (GSH) is the body’s master antioxidant, a low level of GSH means high oxidative stress. With some exceptions, glutathione is in adequate supply in children. However, from about age 20 onward the natural production of glutathione tends to drop at an average rate of about 10-15 percent per decade. This is a concern because the glutathione molecule is involved in many necessary processes in your body.

In the case of AMD, the “age-related” portion of the name is indicative of the root cause of the condition. The older a person gets the lower their natural intracellular glutathione levels are. AMD is always associated with low glutathione. Therefore it is reasonable to presume that those who are able to keep their intracellular GSH at nominal levels will not develop AMD.

Possible Treatment Option

The natural conclusion this implies is that to slow or stop the progress of the condition in the person who has AMD, they should increase their intracellular glutathione levels substantially. This is a conclusion that was reached in a 2013 study (Reference 3). But as with similar research findings for other chronic diseases, no follow-up work is done to bring this to standard treatment practice. Many folk believe this is because there is no money to be made by the medical and pharmaceutical industries from the use of relatively inexpensive nutritional supplements.

When I heard about my online friend having the “wet” form of AMD, I put a question out to a group of folk that know about glutathione.

Here’s what I asked: Increasing glutathione is supposed to help with macular degeneration. Does anyone know of someone who experienced this effect? I’m unsure what I can tell a friend who I just found out has the condition. Thanks.

After a couple of days, here’s a response I got from a personal friend in the group: Hi John, I have had macular degeneration for many years. My ophthalmologist takes a picture of my left eye every year. It was full of blood spots and lines of blood. Now it is smooth and no blood at all. Big change in about one year. Yeah for <product name>.

The product he named is one that increases intracellular GSH levels. This is one person’s experience. By itself it does not mean this constitutes a confirmed treatment or a cure. But in my mind it is further evidence that the medical community really needs to take a look at increasing intracellular glutathione levels as a bona fide treatment option for chronic diseases like AMD.

References:

Reference 1: Qin L, Mroczkowska SA, Ekart A, Patel SR, Gibson JM, Gherghel D., Patients with early age-related macular degeneration exhibit signs of macro- and micro-vascular disease and abnormal blood glutathione levels, Graefe’s archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology, (January 2014)

Reference 2: Mrowicka M, Mrowicki J, Szaflik JP, Szaflik MS, Ulińska M, Szaflik J, Majsterek I., Evaluation pro/antioxidant balance in patients with wet form of age-related macular degeneration, Klin Oczna. 2016;118(4):284-8 (original article in Polish)

Reference 3: Zafrilla P, Losada M, Perez A, Caravaca G, Mulero J., Biomarkers of oxidative stress in patients with wet age related macular degeneration, The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging. (March 2013)

#amd  #chronicdisease #glutathione

The Impact of ROS on ME/CFS and FMS

This is a topic that is somewhat dear to my heart. My sister was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a couple of decades ago. And her life has been miserable for much of that time.

Terminology

For clarification, ME refers to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Myalgic Encephalopathy, CFS refers to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and FMS refers to Fibromyalgia Syndrome (more commonly just Fibromyalgia).

ME/CFS

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a term that has been in use for quite some time. A name less recognized in Canada but moving into more common use is myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This lengthy name can be easily broken down into its parts, where “myalgic” refers to muscle pain; “encephalo” refers to the brain; “myel” refers to the spinal cord; and “itis” refers to inflammation.

In 2001, Health Canada appointed an international panel of experts in this emerging field of medicine to establish a clinical working-case definition, diagnostic guidelines, and treatment procedures. The panel released a set of guidelines in 2003 and their choice of name to describe the condition was both “myalgic encephalomyelitis” and “chronic fatigue syndrome” – with acronyms shortening it down to a manageable size: ME/CFS.

It is estimated that more than 1 million people in the US population have ME/CFS – 422 per every 100,000 people. It is 4 times as common in women as in men (522 out of 100,000 women have it), and women suffer from ME/CFS in greater numbers than from breast cancer (26 per 100,000), HIV/AIDS (12 per 100,000), or lung cancer (33 per 100,000).

In Canada, Statistics Canada reported in 2005 that over 341,000 Canadians were diagnosed with ME/CFS.

~~ Source: medbroadcast.com

Refer also to a more recent definition from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

FMS

FMS stands for Fibromyalgia Syndrome. With Fibromyalgia, pain with its devastating and demoralizing effects remains a challenging problem for both patients and care givers. Fibromyalgia is one of the most common diseases affecting the muscles manifested with pain, stiffness, and tenderness of the muscles, tendons, and joints. The painful tissues involved are not accompanied by tissue inflammation. Therefore, despite potentially disabling body pain; patients with fibromyalgia do not develop tissue damage or deformity. The pain of fibromyalgia is generally widespread, involving both sides of the body. Pain usually affects the neck, buttocks, shoulders, arms, the upper back, and the chest. “Tender points” are localized tender areas of the body that can bring on widespread pain and muscle spasm when touched.

FMS typically presents in young or middle-aged females as persistent widespread pain, stiffness, fatigue, disrupted unrefreshing sleep, and cognitive difficulties, often accompanied by multiple other unexplained symptoms, anxiety and/or depression, and functional impairment of daily living activities. There is an overall 6% to 15% prevalence rate in the United States with a five times greater incidence among women than men.

~~ Source: Oman Medical Journal, published May 2012.

ROS

ROS stands for Reactive Oxygen Species, otherwise known as “free radicals.” Oxidative Stress is a condition in which the level of free radicals exceeds the antioxidant capacity of the body – there’s not enough antioxidants to neutralize the radicals and maintain a balance. (Refer to the article Get Rid of the Radicals.) As most people know, radicals are bad for your health. Prolonged periods of oxidative stress lead to disease and disfunction.

Both ME/CFS and FMS exhibit oxidative stress as a common characteristic.

According to a study published in 2014, “Many studies involving peripheral blood measurements have demonstrated significant abnormalities related to increased O&NS [oxidative stress and nitrosative stress] in many patients with ME/CFS.” (Ref. 1)

According to a study published in 2015, “FMS patients have higher oxidative stress index and lower total nitrite levels than healthy controls. In particular, patients with FMS demonstrated higher serum prolidase activity, total oxidative status, and oxidative stress index than healthy controls, and serum prolidase activity positively correlated with pain and fatigue scores.” (Ref. 2)

My Sister’s Story

My sister had been living with a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia for at least a couple of decades. Several days a week she would have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning. Either not enough energy or too much pain or both. And when she did get up and going, everything she did caused pain and drained her energy. This was no way to live. I’m sure I have just glossed over the situation since I have not experienced what she goes through on a daily basis. I could not do justice to her challenges.

A few years ago I became aware of a nutritional supplement that increased the body’s intracellular glutathione levels. And I saw a list of conditions associated with low glutathione. When I saw Fibromyalgia on the list, my attention perked up.

My Mom and my sister live separately but in the same house. And they live about a five hour drive away from where I live. One weekend when I went to visit, I told my sister about the supplement and urged her to try it. I would be her supplier. She agreed – but I think it was because I was her brother and not because she thought it would make a difference.

After I went home I would call my Mom every couple of weeks to see how she was doing. During those calls I would ask about my sister.

“How’s Sue doing?”

My Mom would answer, “Oh, she’s doing alright.”

A few weeks later, “How’s Sue doing?”

“She’s doing alright.”

“How’s Sue doing?”

“She’s doing alright.”

I was starting to get frustrated. This supplement was supposed to help her.

About 8-10 weeks after she started on the supplements, “How’s Sue doing?”

“Oh, she’s had a particularly bad day today.”

I was thinking, “Damn, the stuff was supposed to help.” But before I could say anything, my Mom went on, “You know those pills you gave her?”

“Yeeesss.” I said somewhat hesitantly. I feared she was going to tell me she thought the supplement had caused problems.

Mom said, “Well, her energy levels are up so much and her pain levels are down so much that she’s doing stuff she hasn’t done in 20 years and her muscles are complaining.”

I was shocked. But before I could even think of a response, my mother starts crying and says, “Thank you for giving your sister her life back.”

All I did was suggest that she take some supplements, based on some science research I had done. But I must admit that it felt pretty good.

We later determined that she needed to take more than the standard dose recommended by the manufacturer to see adequate benefits. Things will never get back to the way they were when she was twenty. But they are an order of magnitude better than what they used to be.

Summary

Both ME/CFS and FMS exhibit high levels of oxidative stress (high levels of damaging free radicals). The high level of oxidative stress correlates to high pain and fatigue scores. Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant. It is produced by the body inside each living cell. Researchers use the level of glutathione as the primary indicator of the level of oxidative stress – the lower the glutathione level the higher the oxidative stress.

Experience shows that increasing intracellular glutathione reduces oxidative stress levels, which leads to a reduction of pain and fatigue. This approach is not a cure; but it may be an effective way to improve the quality of life of those dealing with these conditions.

References:

Reference 1: Gerwyn Morris and Michael Maes, Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress and Immune-Inflammatory Pathways in Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Current Neuropharmacology, 2014 Mar; 12(2): 168–185. Mar. doi: 10.2174/1570159X11666131120224653

Reference 2: Theoharis C. Theoharides, Irene Tsilioni, Lauren Arbetman, Smaro Panagiotidou, Julia M. Stewart, Rae M. Gleason, and Irwin J. Russell, Fibromyalgia Syndrome in Need of Effective Treatments, The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2015 Nov; 355(2): 255–263. Published online 2015 Nov. doi: 10.1124/jpet.115.227298

#Fibromyalgia #ChronicFatigue #ME/CFS #glutathione

About Multiple Sclerosis

multiplesclerosisnervedamageschematicAccording to the Mayo Clinic, “Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can cause the nerves themselves to deteriorate or become permanently damaged.”

The MS Society of Canada says that this country has the highest incidence of MS in the world. From Statistics Canada we learn that about 1 in every 350 people has been diagnosed with MS. That is a disturbing number.

Despite decades of research, the cause remains a mystery. Current evidence suggests that lifestyle, environmental, genetic and biological factors may all contribute. MS is unpredictable and can result in symptoms such as extreme fatigue, lack of coordination, weakness, tingling, impaired sensation, vision problems, bladder problems, cognitive impairment and mood changes.

Because there is no known cure, treatments tend to focus on speeding recovery from attacks, slowing the progression of the disease and managing MS symptoms. Different drugs are used to address different specific symptoms. For example, as with asthma the problematic inflammation is treated with corticosteroids. But there is nothing to treat the disease as a whole.

What is known for certain is that all forms of MS are associated with oxidative stress. You can verify this by referencing PubMed. There is a 100% correlation. To confirm this, go to PubMed and search for ‘multiple sclerosis glutathione’ and you will be presented with a list of hundreds of published papers. Each one will identify low levels of glutathione, which correlates to high levels of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress means that the body has more free radicals than it has antioxidants to neutralize them. Free radicals cause harm to the body and produce cellular inflammation.

In a research paper published in February of 2011 entitled “Radical changes in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis” the authors state that “ROS [Reactive Oxygen Species – aka ‘free radicals’] initiate extensive cellular damage and tissue injury. ROS have been implicated in the progression of cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders, such as multiple sclerosis (MS).” (Reference 1) The paper goes on to discuss clinical and experimental studies highlighting the therapeutic potential of antioxidant protection in the pathogenesis of MS.

There is some anecdotal evidence claiming that dramatically increasing the body’s intracellular glutathione levels can result in reduction of symptoms. (Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant.) Instances of healing of some lesions has also been reported. And this may be supported by the fact that glutathione is needed for myelination, the creation of myelin sheaths to protect nerve fibres. But the problem with scattered anecdotal reports, despite the credentials of the neurologist involved, is that these do not carry the weight of formal controlled clinical studies. A few single reports of success do not provide sufficient data to form a generalization in which the medical community can have confidence. Clearly formal studies of this nature need to be initiated.

So if you have Multiple Sclerosis, what can you do in addition to following your doctor’s recommendations? There are a couple of suggestions I would offer.

These suggestions are based on a few facts. If you have MS your body is experiencing oxidative stress. Prolonged periods of oxidative stress result in your health deteriorating. You could develop a variety of chronic ailments from heart disease to glaucoma to cancer. The only open question is the rate at which your health will deteriorate. If you want to change this reality you need to address the oxidative stress.

  • First, pay attention to your diet and lifestyle to look for changes you can make that will reduce the volume of free radicals produced in your body (e.g., quit smoking, eliminate processed meat from your diet, reduce your exposure to environmental toxins).
  • Second, increase the levels of antioxidants in your body to deal with the free radical load. Increasing the antioxidants you ingest is a good start. But by far the most effective way is to increase your body’s production of glutathione in the cells. (Refer to the article Get Rid of the Radicals!)

Finally, push for clinical trials that examine the benefits of antioxidants as a treatment regimen.

#multiplesclerosis #glutathione #antioxidants

Reference 1: Molecular Basis of Multiple Sclerosis, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Basis of Disease, Volume 1812, Issue 2, Pages 131-282 (February 2011)

Some Things to Know About Rheumatoid Arthritis

rheumatoid-arthritis-522x357I have a bit of a personal interest in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I never knew my grandfather on my mother’s side. In fact, my mother never knew her father (my grandfather). He died from Rheumatoid Arthritis when she was not yet two. He was only 29 and left my grandmother as a single mom to look after three girls, just as the Great Depression began. She managed to get a job and, with the help of close family members, they survived. I respect my grandmother’s achievements as a strong willed independent woman at a time when women generally were not in the workforce. But I know she would have preferred to play the role of housewife and mother with her husband by her side.

My grandfather Ben died a slow and excruciatingly painful death over several years. Toward the end he was curled up in a ball because all of his muscles were perpetually contracted. His hands were described as curled into the shape of claws. Every part of his body was experiencing the pain of torture non-stop. The doctors had no understanding of the disease and no way to treat it other than prescribing strong pain killers. I believe narcotic drugs were the only thing that dulled the pain somewhat.

In my opinion his occupation probably led to his death. My grandfather was a projectionist at the local motion picture theatre. The projection booth, where he spent many hours a day six days a week, was small and not well ventilated. The film of the time was celluloid based, composed of nitrocellulose and camphor. Camphor is a poison that can undergo sublimation at room temperature. The nitrocellulose is extremely flammable and with exposure to heat the nitrate groups can break off and expose nitrogen gases, such as nitrous oxide and nitric oxide. The movie projectors at the time used high temperature light sources. So in the contained environment of the projection booth, with relatively high temperatures, there was likely a high concentration of various toxins.

Based on my understanding of the pathology of RA, oxidative stress (high levels of free radicals without adequate levels of antioxidants to neutralize them) is associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Given that he worked in a highly toxic environment, the body’s master antioxidant glutathione would have been depleted while trying to remove the toxins from his body. The remaining high levels of free radicals would then go about damaging cells in various parts of the body. In addition, the lack of glutathione would weaken the body’s immune system.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is fairly common in industrialized societies. More women get RA than men. A 2005 study in the United States found that the incidence of RA was about 9.8 women per 1,000; and for men the number was about 4.4 per 1,000. Overall in North America, about 0.6% of the adult population over 18 years of age has Rheumatoid Arthritis. Unfortunately statistics show an increasing trend.

What It Is Not

Despite its name, Rheumatoid Arthritis is NOT your grandmother’s Arthritis. When she said her arthritis was acting up, she was most likely referring to the joint pain associated with osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. In some people, the condition also can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels.

arthritis-comparison-diagram-mayo-clinicRA is believed to be an autoimmune disorder. It occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body’s tissues. That would put in in the same class as Lupus, which is also an autoimmune disorder.

Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.

The reason that RA has “arthritis” in its name is that this term is applied to almost any chronic condition that presents as joint pain.

Possible Causes

When it comes down to it, the medical community says it does not know what causes Rheumatoid Arthritis.

There seems to be some consensus, but no definitive proof, that Rheumatoid Arthritis has as its root certain genetic factors. However, when looking at people with RA and those who do not have the disease, there is no solid linkage. There is simply some statistical correlation between those with RA and those with certain gene markers. The CDC identifies some of the correlations on its web site. This means that there is no solid cause-effect relationship proven. The most that can be said is that certain genetic markers may make a person more prone to developing RA should the triggering mechanism present itself.

Several organizations identify a set of risk factors for RA. The Arthritis Foundation is representative in identifying things like smoking, female hormones, physical or emotional trauma, air pollution, insecticides, and others. It is interesting to note that all of these tend to result in increased levels of free radicals in the body.

Accepted Treatments

Since there is no consensus on the actual cause of RA, the medical community is left with only treating symptoms in an attempt to alleviate pain and slow the progress of the disease.

According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the contemporary recommended approach to treating RA is very aggressive. Non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which reduce disease activity and prevent joint deformity, are prescribed within three months of diagnosis. In 2012, the American College of Rheumatology updated RA medical management guidelines. These guidelines describe which biologic DMARDs to use for specific RA disease profiles (e.g., features such as disease activity, signs and symptoms, and prognosis).

Options to Consider

Research paper after research paper confirms that Rheumatoid Arthritis is associated with oxidative stress. There is a 100% correlation. To confirm this, go to PubMed and search for ‘rheumatoid arthritis glutathione’ and you will be presented with a list of hundreds of published papers. Each one will identify low levels of glutathione, which correlates to high levels of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress means that the body has more free radicals than it has antioxidants to neutralize them. Free radicals cause harm to the body and produce cellular inflammation.

It is disturbing to note that with all of this research showing that RA patients have high levels of free radicals, no research is being done to determine the effect of dramatically increasing antioxidant levels in the body – particularly levels of the body’s master antioxidant.

I have said before what I believe the reason to be. There is no money in it. Most medical research is funded in some way by the pharmaceutical industry. Research proposals will only be funded if there is some prospect of a patentable medicine being developed as a result. Antioxidants don’t fall into that category. Since disease related charities are highly influenced by medical and pharmaceutical interests, it is unlikely that funding for such research would come from those sources either.

So if you have RA, what can you do in addition to following your doctor’s recommendations? There are a couple of suggestions I would offer.

These suggestions are based on a few facts. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis your body is experiencing oxidative stress. Prolonged periods of oxidative stress result in your health deteriorating. You could develop a variety of chronic ailments from heart disease to glaucoma to cancer. The only open question is the rate at which your health will deteriorate. If you want to change this reality you need to address the oxidative stress.

  • First, pay attention to your diet and lifestyle to look for changes you can make that will reduce the volume of free radicals produced in your body (e.g., quit smoking, eliminate processed meat from your diet, reduce your exposure to environmental toxins).
  • Second, increase the levels of antioxidants in your body to deal with the free radical load. Increasing the antioxidants you ingest is a good start; but the most effective way is to increase your body’s production of glutathione in the cells. (Refer to the article Get Rid of the Radicals!)

The medical advances in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis were 80 years too late for my grandfather. Perhaps in the near future we will understand the actual cause of the disease and develop ways to prevent it.

#healthscience #rheumatoidarthritis #glutathione

Why Does Your Health Depend on Glutathione?

image of healthy womanGlutathione (rhymes with ‘glue-da-tie-on’) is a molecule that is produced by every living cell in your body. It is necessary for life in every mammal, including humans. If all of the glutathione were to leave your body, you would not survive two seconds. If you don’t have enough glutathione bad things happen, including disease.

Glutathione (chemical designation GSH) is a protein, specifically a tripeptide. It is composed of three amino acids – glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. The cysteine amino acid contains a sulphur group which is responsible for many of the beneficial chemical properties of the whole glutathione protein.

With some exceptions, glutathione is in adequate supply in children. However, from about age 20 onward the natural production of glutathione tends to drop at an average rate of about 10-15 percent per decade. What this means is that when you are in your 40s, 50s, and 60s your natural glutathione production may be about half of what it was when you were a healthy 18 year old. This is a concern because the glutathione molecule is involved in many necessary processes in your body. Only some of them are outlined here.

The Cells of Your Body

It is difficult to get an accurate count. However, there seems to be some consensus that the human body has somewhere between 35 trillion and 70 trillion cells (excluding bacteria), depending on the size of the body and other factors.

Each cell has a role or mission. That mission is programmed by its DNA. The cells have different lifespans. For example red blood cells have a lifespan of about 120 days; whereas the lifespan of a white blood cell is much shorter. The average is about 90 days. What this means is that about every three months your body has completely replaced itself. Before a cell dies, it initiates the creation of its successor. And that successor is an exact duplicate of itself, including any damage or faults it may have. The body produces about 40 billion new cells every day!

Generating Energy in the Cell

In order for a cell to fulfill its mission and do its work it needs motion. The motion is provided by the cell’s mitochondria. You can think of the mitochondria as a tiny motor. Cells have many mitochondria. The number depends on the cell’s mission or type. For example, a fat cell typically has only a couple of mitochondria; whereas a heart cell has about 2,500 mitochondria.

The mitochondria need fuel. That fuel is Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). Glutathione is part of the process of generating ATP. When glutathione levels are down, the production of ATP slows and a person experiences low energy levels. ATP is needed for muscle contraction, so athletes are particularly concerned about their levels of ATP. Raising glutathione levels can enhance athletic performance.

Neutralizing Free Radicals

When the fuel (ATP) is used to generate energy for the mitochondria to initiate the work of the cell, it produces waste products (that you can think of as exhaust from the motor) called free radicals. Free radicals are dangerous because, with their unbalanced electrical charge, they initiate a chemical reaction with almost any molecule in the cell that they come in contact with. This causes damage to the cell.

In addition, when the cell encounters toxic substances and tries to deal with the toxins, free radicals are produced in alarming numbers.
Glutathione neutralizes the harmful free radical by neutralizing the unbalanced charge on the radical molecule. In fact, glutathione is the body’s primary antioxidant. Adequate levels of glutathione protect the cell by neutralizing the free radicals. However, if there are inadequate amounts of glutathione, the remaining free radicals will do more and more damage.

Oxidative stress is defined as a state where the free radical load on the body exceeds the antioxidant capacity of the body. Prolonged periods of oxidative stress can be shown to result in chronic diseases of various sorts. (Refer to Diseases and Conditions Associated with Oxidative Stress.) There is good reason to want to maintain adequate glutathione levels.

Recycling Antioxidants

Glutathione (GSH) as an antioxidant is able to recycle itself. After neutralizing the free radical by dealing with its negative charge, it combines with another glutathione molecule to form an electrically neutral GSSH molecule that is subsequently transformed back into a GSH molecule.

There are only a few antioxidants that can be recycled (e.g., Vitamin E, Vitamin C, alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and Glutathione). Vitamin E, Vitamin C and ALA are recycled by GSH. So low glutathione levels limit the ability of these other antioxidants to do their job. GSH on the other hand can recycle itself many thousands of times.

Therefore the effectiveness of certain of the antioxidants you ingest and the overall antioxidant capacity of your body is limited by the availability of glutathione.

Synthesizing Antioxidants and Proteins

Each antioxidant must be synthesized into a useable state before it can be used by the cells. The primary synthesizing agent for antioxidants is glutathione.

Proteins must also be synthesized before they can be used by the cells. Glutathione is not the sole synthesizing agent for proteins – but it is a principal agent. So the level of glutathione in the cell is a major factor in the degree to which ingested proteins can be used by the body.

Reducing Cellular Inflammation

For several decades there has been a mounting belief in the medical research community that cellular inflammation is the root cause of virtually all chronic disease. However, in my research I have been unable to unearth the direct cause-effect relationship between inflammation and disease.

What I do know is that cellular inflammation seems to go hand in hand with oxidative stress. It would appear that when the huge volume of free radicals do damage to the cells during periods of oxidative stress, the reaction of the cell to this insult is to become inflamed. If this is the case, the cause of chronic disease is prolonged periods of oxidative stress – and cellular inflammation is just a resulting symptom.

Regardless of the exact mechanism, what we do know with some certainty is that in the presence of abundant glutathione the level of cellular inflammation goes down.

Detoxifying Heavy Metals and Environmental Toxins

Many heavy metals like lead and mercury are toxic to the body and can cause devastating damage. For over a hundred years these substances have been used in a variety industrial processes. Lead was used in oil based paint and in gasoline. It was only after significant portions of the population started to have obvious disease symptoms that laws were passed to reduce or eliminate such use.

Regardless, these substances are still working their way through the environment. For example, mercury has found its way into the food chain and has been detected in disconcerting concentrations in fish like tuna. That is why there are warnings about limiting the amount of tuna you include in your diet.

Sometimes heavy metal molecules get sequestered in fat cells where they do little harm. But when you lose weight they are released to circulate and possibly find a home in other cells where they can do damage. At other times the heavy metals you ingest go directly to cells where they could do harm.

If you have adequate levels of glutathione, the GSH molecule will interact with the heavy metal molecule and escort it out of your system. This is where the sulphur group on the cysteine part of GSH comes into play. Sulphur is ‘sticky’ and this is how the GHS molecule attaches to the heavy metal molecule. The combined compound then gets flushed out of your system. (Drink lots of water to facilitate this detoxification process.) This process is called chelation.

In addition, there are innumerable environmental toxins that are not metals that our bodies encounter. The list includes petroleum byproducts, pesticides, prescription drugs, cleaning compounds, alcohol, and on and on. The glutathione molecule is instrumental in removing these various toxins from the cell and facilitates their removal from the body. It does so by breaking down the fat soluble toxin, attaching itself to the toxin fragments thus making them water soluble, and then as a water soluble compound it can be flushed out of the system through the kidneys.

In fact there is an organ that has as its primary function toxic chemical detoxification. The liver has been referred to as the body’s “washing machine” because it extracts toxins from the blood flow and removes them to be eliminated through excretion. Glutathione is critical to this chemical process. It is not surprising, therefore, that the liver has the highest concentration of glutathione in the body. Adequate levels of glutathione in the liver are essential to ongoing good health.

Unfortunately this activity depletes glutathione levels, leaving less glutathione to generate energy for the cell to do its work and less glutathione to neutralize free radicals. Furthermore, the load of environmental toxins is increasing every year.

Protecting Mitochondrial DNA

It is believed that the effects of aging are a result of repeated minor damage to cellular mitochondrial DNA over time. When a cell with damaged DNA reproduces, the resulting cell may not function as well as the original cell prior to the damage. After a while the effect accumulates and you start to notice the typical characteristics of aging. Furthermore, some DNA damage is not minor and instead of gradual aging we see a specific disease condition become apparent. (One example of this is the DNA damage that causes tumorous growth.)

There are three primary causes of DNA damage:

  • heavy metals
  • chemical toxins
  • radiation

In the case of heavy metals, we have seen that abundant glutathione can chelate the metal, removing these molecules from the cell and from your body. This removes the opportunity to damage the DNA.

Likewise in the case of chemical toxins, abundant glutathione facilitates the removal of these harmful molecules from the cell and from the body, primarily through the liver.

High levels of glutathione also protect mitochondrial DNA from radiation damage.

We are exposed to radiation in a variety of ways. There is diagnostic imaging (think x-rays), radiation therapy (a standard cancer treatment), background radiation (think UV radiation that causes sun tans), cosmic radiation and other types.

I don’t know what the exact number is, but I have been given to understand that the level of damaging radiation is at least 1,000 times greater at a height of 30,000 metres than at sea level. This is of concern to commercial air crew who typically fly many hours a day at more than 10,000 metres, and to astronauts who operate much higher than 30 kilometres above the earth.

A study published in 2000 and funded jointly by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Energy found that significantly increasing glutathione levels would be very beneficial for “reducing the load of mutations created by high LET radiation in astronauts or other exposed individuals.” Of interest is the fact that cancer radiation therapy also uses high LET radiation.

So astronauts, commercial air crew members, and anyone undergoing radiation therapy should have a particular interest in increasing their body’s glutathione levels.

Facilitating Hemoglobin Function

Hemoglobin is the active component of red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the cells throughout the body. Glutathione reduces hemoglobin to a +2 state so it can accept oxygen and carry it to the cells. Low glutathione levels could reduce the level of oxygen that gets to the cells, which in turn could lead to a wide range of adverse consequences.

Abundant glutathione levels tend to bring hemoglobin counts into the normal range.

Optimizing the Immune System

The immune system is complex. A couple of primary components are the white blood cells (leukocytes) which are key to tackling bacterial and viral infections, and the natural killer cells (like the Killer T cells) that destroy compromised host cells, such as tumor cells or virus-infected cells.

With low glutathione levels, the immune system will respond sluggishly. There is considerable evidence that glutathione plays a key role in the regulation and control mechanisms of the immune response to a threat.

Abundant levels of glutathione allow the immune system to respond explosively to a bacterial or viral insult. High GSH levels result in an optimized immune system.

Enhancing Wound Healing

Have you ever noticed that when children get a minor cut or scrape they heal very quickly as compared with their parents or grandparents? And their scarring is much less as well.

It looks like glutathione is responsible.

A study was completed in 2014 and the peer reviewed result was published in 2015. It clearly showed that raising glutathione levels before surgery (a surgical incision is considered a wound in medicine) and keeping them elevated after surgery dramatically reduced the healing time, increased the strength of the healed wound, and significantly reduced any resulting scar.

The belief is that these results are brought on by a substantial reduction of inflammation around the site of the wound.

So if you are facing surgery, increase your glutathione levels substantially at least for the period two or more weeks before the surgery and two to four weeks (or more) afterward.

Reducing “Bad Cholesterol”

Low density lipoproteins (LDL) are considered to be the “bad cholesterol.”  According to the American Heart Association:

LDL cholesterol is considered the “bad” cholesterol because it contributes to plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result. Another condition called peripheral artery disease can develop when plaque buildup narrows an artery supplying blood to the legs.

For years there has been widespread anecdotal evidence that high glutathione levels were associated with reduced blood serum LDL.

A study to look at this was completed in late 2014 and the peer reviewed result was published in 2016. It concluded that elevated glutathione levels resulted in “significant decreases in LDL.” It lowers LDL, Lp(a) and oxidised lipid concentrations.

Summary

Glutathione is a key participant in a wide variety of the body’s processes. It is absolutely essential to good health. Diminished glutathione levels can have adverse effects that may manifest in many different ways, sometimes displaying several such manifestations at the same time.

Increasing glutathione to optimum levels in the body is vital to maintaining good health over time.

p.s. To find out what I use personally to elevate glutathione levels, go to the Contact John menu item and send me a message.

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