Glutathione (GSH)

Living with chronic fatigue can be frustrating. Some people don't know what is causing their condition.

Others know the source of their pain, but are still searching for an effective treatment to manage it.

Free radical induced inflammation has recently been identified as a major source of pain.

Jimmy Gutman, MD, commenting on a case study that raised the levels of GSH in a Chronic Fatigue patient, who also suffered with fibromyalgia pain, in his new book 'GSH, Your Body's Most Powerful Protector', states:

William, a lawyer from Alabama, noticed a change in his health at age 39. His initial visits to a number of physicians were neither conclusive nor accurate in their diagnoses.

He was unable to carry on his usual demanding workload and was forced to end his law practice.

A CFS support group suggested he consult a prestigious south-eastern clinic specializing in chronic fatigue and inflammatory pain.

He was placed on a program to raise the glutathione (GSH) levels, within each cell. After 12 weeks, William's improvement was noticeable.

Three months later he woke up one morning and “felt well again.”

That day he picked up his golf clubs for the first time in five years. Today he is shooting in the 90’s and will be restarting his practice in the fall.

The Role of GSH in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The role of GSH in healthy immune system functioning and bio-chemical defenses cannot be overstated.

Of the antioxidants that can prevent or retard the pain response, GSH has been identified as central - acting as an anti-inflammatory agent within the cell.

While CFS is a toxicological problem – it is more typical of an immune disorder. It is best classified as a post-viral or post-infectious syndrome.

For unknown reasons persons develop an abnormal immunological and neuro-endrocrinological response to an acute phase of illness.

Such illnesses include:

• anemia
• arthritic diseases
• cancer
• collagen-vascular diseases such as lupus erythematosis
• lyme's disease
• inflammatory bowel diseases
• malnutrition and malabsorptive states
• parasitic infections
• AIDS

This inability to fight health threats combines with an imbalance in the body’s hormonal secretions, which then begins to produce the symptoms of CFS.

Glutathione (GSH) detoxifies a large number of pollutants, carcinogens, heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides and radiation.

Every day, we are exposed to toxins from cigarette smoke, traffic exhaust and smog, food preservatives and mercury laden dental amalgam – and our immune system depends on GSH for their removal.

The inability to facilitate such detoxification – overwhelms your immune and antioxidant defense systems – thus the cycle of persistent fatigue, musculo-skeletal pain, sleep disturbance and cognitive and psychological abnormalities is perpetuated.

The GSH enzyme system detoxifies at the cellular level. The pro-oxidant effect of pollutants, from heavy metals to food chemicals, is counterbalanced by the antioxidant capabilities of GSH.

Chronic fatigue patients feel the overwhelming effects of oxidative stress – when these free radical oxidants are formed at a greater rate than your GSH antioxidant system can fight.

The chemical molecule itself can be conjugated or bound to GSH – after which it is eliminated from the body.

By undergoing GSH enhancing therapy to combat oxidative damage, a major source of chronic fatigue syndrome complications, is addressed including:

• Muscle and joint pain
• Continuous debilitating fatigue
• Impaired short-term memory and concentration

Dr. Paul Cheney and numerous other CFS physicians have demonstrated that once your levels of GSH have returned to a level consistent to enabling proper immune system support, many patients respond with dramatic results.

By providing your immune system with the ‘fuel’ required to function, raising GSH not only allows you to begin feeling better, but in many cases, a return to normal routines becomes possible.

Chemical Sensitivity

A recent article in the American Journal of Medicine, by researchers at the University of Arizona, found that severe chemical sensitivity is a factor in up to 50% of chronic fatigue patients.

These sufferers experience a flare-up of allergic conditions. Their mild or borderline allergies may progress from moderate to severe in nature, and asthma can become active or, if already present, can become more severe.

Chemical sensitivity and environmental exposure to toxins – as manifested in Gulf War Syndrome – are also connected with CFS, inasmuch as they share an inappropriate immunological response to oxidative stressors.

There is a higher incidence of CFS among Gulf War Veterans, than among the general population.

Any additional toxicological overload may be the last straw that triggers a cascade of symptoms, often mimicking other chronic diseases or immunological dysfunctions.

Thus, there is a danger of misdiagnosis and mistreatment.

Cell Power Plant

GSH protects the Mitochondria (your cell's power plant) from chemical and environmental stressors that mount free radical attacks against the cell.

When your body's natural GSH antioxidant defense systems cannot protect your cells - you experience fibromyalgia and other diseases of ‘pain and fatigue'.

When an oxyradical attack penetrates the cell – if it targets the DNA (cell blue print) the DNA is corrupted and the blue print is set to mutate... a smoldering cancer is set in motion.²²

When a successful attack penetrates the cell – and targets your ‘power plant' – we experience fibromyalgia, and the other ‘diseases of pain and fatigue', including: chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS, etc. ²²

Damage and decline occurs slowly over a long period of time.

Clearly, the lower antioxidant levels in your cells, the more unprotected every cell is, and the more rapid the decline in your condition.

Of particular note in the current research, is that the oxidative stress fibromyalgia places on your body – takes it's toll – in the form of depleting or ‘exhausting' your GSH antioxidant protection mechanism.

The Viral Connection

Controversy surrounds the role of infectious disease states in CFS - as to how many viruses may be involved, some authorities even view CFS as a chronic viral reactivation syndrome.

These physicians study the CFS patient in depth to look at their viral load. What viruses are they accumulating? Do they have viremia? Do they have overlapping periods of immunosuppression?

Teams of suspect viruses have been suggested with some cases suspected to have 5 or more viruses possibly interacting to cause clinical CFS.

British Scientists and medical researchers in England discovered coxsackie viruses to be the cause of a mid-1980’s epidemic of post-viral fatigue syndrome.

Coxsackie virus B infection affects muscles, reduces exercise tolerance and causes muscle pain commonly referred to as myalgia, which can be a cause of fibromyalgia rheumatica.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients must be considered for their high-risk immune status – a system overwhelmed by toxic and viral load.

A functioning immune system can detect an invading virus and dispatch ‘killer’ T-cells to fight and overcome viral loads within the body.

GSH is required by your immune system in the mass production of T-cell’s (the process known as mono clonial expansion). With low levels of GSH, your immune system is limited in this critical function.

Pain Killer Warning

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, has been identified as a powerful oxidant - that according to the FDA, depletes GSH and may aid in the development of asthma and increase asthmatic symptoms.

Published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York confirm acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, can be a risk factor for asthma.

The study found a link between the use of the popular pain medicine and asthmatic airway spasms, causing wheezing, and coughing.

The lungs are especially vulnerable to the oxidative free radical effect of acetaminophen.

The notification regarding acetaminophen decreasing the level of glutathione is of concern to pain sufferers who cannot afford to lower their GSH antioxidant defenses any further.

The Link To Cancer

British researchers have now linked chronic pain as a warning sign for cancer – the ominous progression of unchecked oxidative stress.

After following more than 6,000 people for nine years, researchers from the University of Manchester found those who reported having widespread pain at the start of the study had a 60 percent increased risk of getting cancer.

To further reinforce, they were overwhelmed with oxidative stress. The study found they were also more likely to die from their cancers, especially breast and prostate cancer. ²⁵

Anti-Inflammatory Effect

The high level of pain and inflammation generated by CFS is in itself, an indication of a high degree of oxidative damage.

In the case of CFS, there may be inflammatory disease of the muscles, tendons, joints, liver, pancreas, thyroid, central nervous system and of the gastrointestinal tract, including the stomach, small bowel and colon.

In an article on chemically induced inflammation, researchers found persons with a GSH deficiency were unable to counteract chemical threats.

They found that many industrial workers with symptoms of systemic inflammation are often misdiagnosed as suffering from fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, viral infections, connective tissue diseases and other such maladies.

They urged physicians to be informed more thoroughly about the ability of chemical pollutants to imitate inflammatory diseases.

Samples of inflamed tissue show consistent evidence of severe oxidative stress, where the degree of oxidative damage has been correlated to the degree of inflammation.

Australian researcher G.D. Buffington studying inflamed tissue noted the significant depletion of Glutathione within the tissue.²⁴

Evidence demonstrating the importance of combating oxidative stress with optimal GSH levels, for an anti-inflammatory effect throughout your body is consistent.^{2, 10}

Read about Oxidative Stress

Raising GSH Levels

Raising the level of GSH within each cell of your body is a safe method for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome to prevent the recently identified source of disease and inflammation – oxidative free radicals.

The simple act of raising and sustaining your own cellular protective forces – is destined to change the paradigm in the medical community, which it already has in scientific circles.

As the result of many decades of research focused on how to modulate the immune system – there are now several manufacturers both in the USA and Canada providing proteins, high in undenatured cysteine that are biologically similar to the cysteine found in mother's milk.

As a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome, we urge you to investigate the benefits of protecting each cell in your body – simply by adding these GSH precursors to you diet.

Fig 1: Source - FDA website

The FDA published a slide (Fig 1) showing some areas of how GSH is lowered.

It was found the decline in GSH levels begins to rapidly occur at age forty in the average population.²⁴ (see chart below)

Fig 2: Source - Cellular Health Foundation

Clinical studies have proven that immune depressed individuals have lower GSH concentrations.

Research trials have revealed a correspondence between low GSH levels and higher complications.

What is Glutathione?

Glutathione (pronounced "gloota thigh own"), or GSH, a small protein, is an essential component of our immune system.

It is produced naturally by cells throughout our body, and plays a vital role in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as:

• A cell's most important Antioxidant
• An Immune System component
• A Detoxifying agent in our body

GSH has now been found to be the cornerstone of the body's anti-oxidant defense team. ^1,2,9,12,14

Research now demonstrates the correlation between a precipitous fall in this unique molecule – and diseases including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

You've probably never heard of it because in supplement form it is useless to take.

Yet, almost half of the ‘baby boomer' generation - individuals over 50 - are deficient in this molecule, leading to greater susceptibility to all kinds of disease.²⁰

The FDA has published a list of everyday agents such as vigorous exercise, smoking, UV radiation, and coffee, which actually work to deplete this vital ‘protector' from our bodies.

Clinical studies show that if you provide your body with ‘specific building blocks', it will make a constant supply of this precious molecule for you. ^2,3,4,9,14

Critical Element Missing

Glutathione must be made, or synthesized within the cell because GSH cannot be transported into cells in a supplement or ‘pill' form. ¹

Each cell requires the three ‘building blocks' or pre-cursors to enable the process to proceed. If only two of the three building blocks are present – the building does not proceed – no matter how great the need for GSH.

Two of the three, amino acids: glutamic acid and glycine are readily available in our diet.

Sadly, it is the availability of the third amino acid, cysteine – that limits the production of GSH.

This is because cysteine, although plentiful in raw milk and fresh eggs, is ‘de-natured' in pasteurization and cooking.

In being denatured, any cysteine we receive in our diet is no longer biologically alive for the purposes of an effective ‘building block'.

We have been unable to provide an un-denatured building block to our diets.

Why aren't we replacing GSH in our diet, especially considering it's a naturally occurring protein in each cell – giving us such fundamental protective value?

Summary

Glutathione is the key protective molecule of your immune system.

For your cells to make GSH they require a regular source of natural cysteine.

The Foundation has identified several resources that are FDA recognized as food supplements to raise GSH levels. No prescriptions are necessary. Some are listed in the 2005 Physicians Desk Reference (PDR).

Click for PDR extract

One such natural supplement is now classified as a Nutraceutical and meets the criteria for Medicare / Medicaid reimbursement.

Although Medicare / Medicaid do not cover oral supplements, coverage is applicable for intravenous tube feeding in hospitals.

For 25 years hospital ER's have been injecting N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a synthetic form of cysteine, to quickly raise the GSH levels of a patient to temporarily boost the immune system.

Previous generations were not aware that our cells had such protective power.

Now, individually, we have been given the ability to give our cells the ‘building blocks' they need.

Because of the research and scientific validation, we believe raising GSH levels – both naturally and even by synthetic means - will have major positive consequences for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

The physician of the future will ask, “Let's take your blood pressure and check your glutathione levels”.

Its adoption as standard healthcare practice is on the horizon.

We urge you to speak to your physician about raising your GSH level – in every cell of your body.

Click here for References in the above article