What if I told you there was a substance that could energize your system by helping your body recycle its antioxidant vitamins, remove toxic wastes from your body, reduces your risk of cancer, help your body fight infection from germs and viruses, and boost your energy. Sounds like magic! That substance is Glutathione.

What Is Glutathione?

Glutathione is produced by your body’s cells and is the body’s major antioxidant. It regulates the actions of other antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E within the body. It cannot enter most cells directly and must be made within the cells from three amino acids: glycine, glutamate, and cysteine. The rate at which glutathione is made is dependent on the availability of cysteine, which is relatively scarce in foodstuffs. As we age, glutathione values decline, and higher levels in older people correlate with better health. The importance of glutathione cannot be overstated.

How Does Glutathione Work?

Glutathione deficiency is associated with medical disorders such as AIDS, cancer wasting, some intestinal disorders, trauma, over training among athletes, and other disease states. Without glutathione, other important antioxidants cannot do their job and adequately protect your body against disease. It helps these antioxidants in their reduced (active) forms so that they can neutralize free radicals and reactive oxygen compounds. In addition, through direct conjugation, glutathione plays a role in detoxification of many xenobiotics (foreign compounds). Glutathione forms a soluble compound with the toxin that can then be excreted through the urine or feces. In a sense, it is a “natural” chelating agent. The liver and kidneys have the highest amounts of glutathione as they have the greatest exposure to toxins. The lungs are also rich in glutathione for the same reason. Many cancer causing chemicals, pollutants, heavy metals, drug metabolites, and waste products are removed in this way.

Glutathione is also an essential component of the human immune response. For example, it is needed for the lymphocytes (white blood cells) to multiply in order to develop a strong immune response, and for ‘killer’ lymphocytes to be able to kill undesirable cells such as cancer cells or virally infected cells. Paul Cheney, M.D., Ph.D. is an expert in the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and has found that glutathione has potent anti-viral properties, and if the tissue and serum levels of glutathione are significantly increased, the replication of most germs are slowed or stopped.

Glutathione has been found to be helpful in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Dr. David Perlmutter several years ago found that giving high doses of IV Glutathione helped many patient’s with Parkinson’s disease temporarily regain strength and reduce rigidity and tremors. It works very quickly, sometimes within one hour or less.

Can I Take a Glutathione Pill?

Why not just take a pill with Glutathione in it? Unfortunately, oral glutathione supplements are virtually ineffective, since glutathione is a protein and is digested in the stomach before reaching the blood stream or tissues of the body. Recancostat™ is a patented reduced form of L-glutathione that we use at the Center. It comes in both capsule and powdered form. It by-passes the stomach acid and is partly absorbed. NAC (N-acetyl-cysteine) is also available as a supplement and can be converted to glutathione, but it has certain unpleasant side effects, even in moderate doses. NAC in high doses in some studies my have a counter-productive effect or might even transport heavy metals to the brain or other vital organs.

I.V. Glutathione Works Fast

IV administration of Glutathione allows glutathione to by-pass the digestive tract and enter the body directly for immediate use. Our experience at the Center with IV glutathione has mostly been with patients with heavy metal toxicity, especially mercury toxicity. IV Glutathione dramatically increases (often doubling) the excretion of mercury when used in combination with the standard chelation agents such as IV DMPS or oral DMSA, and at the same time reduces some of the potential unpleasant side-effects of heavy metal detoxification. We find mercury toxic patients often have stress on their detoxification pathways due to glutathione deficiency, as mercury destroys the thiol groups which are a part of the glutathione molecule. When glutathione is destroyed, it is difficult for the body to rid itself of toxic metals. By replacing glutathione intravenously, body stores of this substance are increased temporarily. Patient’s often feel dramatically better for days after receiving IV glutathione in terms of clearer mental functioning, more energy, and enhanced sense of well-being.

Glutathione for intravenous use is obtained by prescription from a compounding pharmacy and is diluted with an appropriate amount of normal saline and given over a 10 - 15 minute period. If you would like further information on this therapy, please feel free to contact the Center at (352) 331-5138.