Antioxidants Protect Against Disease

Many defense mechanisms within the organism have evolved to limit the levels of reactive oxidants and the damage they inflict. Among the defenses are enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. The glutathione S-transferases inactivate reactive electrophilic mutagens, including the aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation.

There are also many structural defenses such as sequestering H202 generating enzymes in peroxisomes and chelating any free iron or copper salts in transferrin and ferritin or ceruloplasmin to avoid Fenton chemistry. Superoxide, however, can release iron from ferritin.

Oxidized DNA is repaired by a series of glycosylases that are specific for particular oxidized bases and possibly by non-specific excision repair enzymes. In the absence of cell division these oxidative lesions are removed from DNA quite effectively and the mutation rate is kept to a minimum. Oxidized proteins are degraded by proteases. Lipid hydroperoxides are destroyed by glutathione peroxidase.

Almost all of these defenses appear to be inducible, as are most other types of defenses, i.e., the amounts increase in response to damage. There is a large literature showing that cells respond to low levels of radiation, an oxidative mutagen, by inducing antioxidant defenses that help to protect them against mutation by high levels of radiation.

There is a tradeoff however, since the induction of these defenses makes the cell more sensitive to alkylating mutagens.

In addition to the protective effects of endogenous enzymatic antioxidant defenses, consumption of dietary antioxidants appears to be of great importance. Fruits and vegetables, the main source of antioxidants in the diet, are associated with a lowered risk of degenerative diseases. Block and her colleagues have recently reviewed 172 studies in the epidemiological literature that relate, with great consistency, the lack of adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables to cancer incidence.

The quarter of the population with low dietary intake of fruits and vegetables compared to the quarter with high intake has double the cancer rate for most types of cancer (lung, larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, bladder, pancreas, cervix, and ovary). Data on the types of cancer known to be associated with hormone levels are not as consistent and show less protection by fruits and vegetables: for breast cancer the protective effect was about 30%. There is also literature on the protective effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on heart disease and stroke. Only 9% of Americans eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, the intake recommended by the National Cancer Insitute and the National Research Council. European countries with low fruit and vegetable intake (e.g., Scotland) are generally in poorer health and have higher rates of heart disease and cancer than countries with high intake (e.g., Greece).

The cost of fruits and vegetables is an important factor in discouraging consumption. Poorer people spend a higher percentage of their income on food, eat less fruits and vegetables, and have shorter life expectancy than wealthier people. A major contributor to health in this century was synthetic pesticides which markedly decreased the cost of food production and ensured that most of the crops planted would be eaten by humans rather than insects. Synthetic pesticide residues do not appear to be a significant cause of cancer.

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Antioxidants May Reduce Harmful Complications Of Diabetes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- April 20, 1998 -- Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that the depletion of body chemicals called antioxidants may increase the risk of complications from the most common form of diabetes.

The scientists recommend that diabetics take antioxidants supplements, such as vitamin C or E, to help stave off or even forestall the hallmark complications of diabetes, including blindness, kidney failure, amputation and even death.

antioxidants neutralise oxygen free radicals, highly-reactive chemicals that are the potentially-destructive by-products of the body's process of turning food into energy. Normally, the body produces enough antioxidants of its own to keep the reactive oxygen from causing damage.

"We were able to show that patients with poor control of their diabetes who were beginning to show signs of complications had depleted their store of antioxidants ," said Duke researcher Dr. Emmanuel Opara. "Further, we found a significant correlation between high blood-sugar levels and depletion of antioxidants . It appears that this depletion is a major risk factor for developing complications and that antioxidants supplements could lower this risk."

Opara presented his studies yesterday at Experimental Biology `98, the annual scientific meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).
The researchers studied 50 similar people with Type II diabetes -- also known as non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset diabetes. In this form of the disease, insulin produced in the body is unable to trigger the lowering of high blood sugar. Type II diabetes afflicts about 90 percent of the estimated 10.7 million Americans diagnosed with the disease and the 5.4 million believed to have undiagnosed cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Insulin is the hormone that normally regulates the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood and is produced by cells in the pancreas. Insulin is secreted when the level of blood glucose rises -- as after a meal.

All diabetic patients in the study were taking only drugs referred to as sulfonylureas, which increase the sensitivity of receptors to insulin throughout the body. Half the patients exhibited microalbuminuria, the excretion of tiny amounts of protein in the urine that is considered a precursor of kidney disease, while the other half did not. T

he researchers took blood samples from all 50 patients, as well as a control group of 20 similar people without diabetes and determined levels of antioxidantsin their blood.
"We found that the non-diabetics' ability to defend against damage from the oxygen free radicals was almost twice that of those patients exhibiting microalbuminuria," Opara explained. "And while the difference between the two diabetic groups was not as pronounced, the difference was still statistically significant. Also, antioxidants depletion correlated with high blood sugar after meals only in the group with microalbuminuria."

The researchers determined antioxidants levels by a new chemical assay developed at King's College in England that enabled them to measure all known antioxidants in the blood and to obtain a more global picture of the body's total antioxidants capacity, Opara said. Other assays are only specific for individual antioxidants.

Using the newly-developed assay, the scientists rated the ability of the non-diabetics to defend against Free radicals damage at 2.7, compared with 1.4 for those with microalbuminuria and 1.7 for the diabetics without microalbuminuria.

Though the exact mechanism of action of the oxygen Free radicals is not yet clear, these findings confirm in humans earlier animal studies of the chemicals' role in damage in diabetes, Opara said. Previous Duke studies by Opara have shown that vitamin E can delay the development of diabetes in obese rats with Type II diabetes and that the depletion of the antioxidants Glutathione caused diabetes in another rat model.

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"The results we've been seeing in our animal studies are now being borne out in humans,” Opara said. "I recommend that since the body has many antioxidants , diabetics should take a number of these agents, including vitamins C and E and Glutathione."

The diabetic patients involved in the current study come from Egypt, and their samples were brought to Duke by E. Abdel-Rahman, one of Opara's collaborators.

Cysteine, Glutamic Acid and Glycine- immune system

Glutathione is a tri-peptide composed of three amino acids: Cysteine, Glutamic Acid and Glycine.

Glutathione and the enzymes it forms, such as GTH peroxidase, are essential to all life and are found in tissues of virtually all plants and animals. GTH is present in all human cells, with the highest levels found in the liver, the lenses of the eyes, pancreas, spleen and kidneys.

Glutathione acts as a powerful antioxidant, a key protector against all types of pollution and is effective in preventing aging. It protects DNA and RNA from free-radical damage.

Glutathione also protects against cellular peroxidation caused by exposure to pesticides, plastics, benzene and carbon tetrachloride, as well as heavy metals, cigarette smoke, smog, drugs, solvents, dyes, phenols and nitrates.

Glutathione works to inhibit the formation of free radicals, dangerous agents that suppress the immune system and promote the formation of mutagens and carcinogens.

Free radicals also speed up the aging process, and it is due to this powerful antioxidant activity that Glutathione is considered useful in the prevention and treatment of a wide range of degenerative diseases.

Studies at the Louisville School of Medicine have clearly shown that Glutathione possesses the unique ability to slow the aging process. While Glutathione aids in the protection of all cells and membranes, a study at Harvard Medical School found that Glutathione is especially able to enhance immune system cells, protecting against damage from radiation and helping to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and x-rays and alcohol. As a detoxifier of metals and drugs, Glutathione also aids in the treatment of blood and liver disorders.

As individuals grow older, Glutathione levels drop, and the ability to detoxify free radicals decreases.

It can protect against cadmium, copper, and acetaminophen (the active agent in Tylenol) toxicity. Glutathione aids the liver in detoxification, slows the aging process, helps the cardiovascular and immune system, and is helpful in preventing or treating many other health conditions.

Supplementation may prevent, or be helpful with, the following conditions:
Aging
Alcoholism
Asthma
Atherosclerosis (heart disease)
Cancer
Cataracts
Dizziness
Hepatitis
Immunodepression (immune function)
Infertility (male)
Memory Loss (Alzheimer's disease, dementia)
Osteoarthritis
Parkinson's Disease
Peptic Ulcers

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Dr. Robert Keller and Glutathione

Robert Keller MD, MS, FACP, has been named as one of the world’s 2,000 Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century, and has served on the scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the VA.

The Consumers’ Research Council has named Dr. Keller one of America’s “Top Physicians in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 in the fields of Internal Medicine, Immunology and Hematology.

Dr. Keller has served on the faculties of the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin (Marquette Univ.) He has published more than 100 original articles in various scientific and medical journals and has been awarded several patents.

Dr Keller was elected to The Board of Governors of the American Academy of HIV medicine.

Read Robert H. Keller, MD, MS, FACP, AAHIVS CurriculmVitae

Dr. Robert H. Keller, one of the world’s leading scientists dedicated 10 years of research and development into MaxGXL to assist the world in its quest for a higher quality of health.Out of all the biological processes that Dr Keller could have focused his attention on, he chose to investigate a way to naturally optimize the body’s production of glutathione.

Glutathione is a fairly tricky word, but your body relies on its function every single day.


Important Roles of Glutathione

• Fight against oxidative cell damage (Free Radicals)
• Protein Synthesis
• Amino Acid transport
• Cellular detoxification
• Immune system enhancement
• Enzyme activation
• Fight Inflammation
• ATP (energy) production
Our cells are constantly under attack by Free Radicals, which can cause a reduction of our cells ability to function optimally.

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The 3 Distinct Benefits of Naturally Produced Glutathione

Glutathione: The Master Antioxidant
Antioxidants participate directly in the destruction of reactive oxygen compounds called free radicals. These by-products of a cell’s normal function can’t be avoided, but exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or other sources promotes their emergence.
Free radicals have been linked to muscle fatigue during exercise and aging.

For this reason, the body is equipped with a variety of antioxidants. Vitamins C and E are natural antioxidants but do not occur naturally in the body.

These and other antioxidants actually depend on natural glutathione to function properly.

This is why Glutathione is called “The Master Antioxidant”.

Glutathione : Food for the Immune system

Glutathione helps build your Immune system resistance and improve your chances of staying healthy.

Lymphocytes are cells of your Immune system. Glutathione is essential for lymphocytes to increase in number, produce antibodies, and function efficiently.

Glutathione: A Cellular Level Detoxifier
Our food and water sources are becoming increasingly contaminated with chemicals, as is the air that we breathe.

Supplemental Detoxifier such as Glutathione help to counter the effects of the toxins we inhale and ingest.

By physically binding to toxic compounds in cells, Glutathione helps make them soluble - and harmless. The body can then eliminate these disarmed toxins in the bile and urine.

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Chronic Alcoholism Alters Systemic and Pulmonary Glutathione Redox Status

Rationale: Previous studies have linked the development and severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome with a history of alcohol abuse. In clinical studies, this association has been centered on depletion of pulmonary Glutathione and subsequent chronic oxidant stress.

Objectives: The impact on redox potential of the plasma or pulmonary pools, however, has never been reported.

Methods: Plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were collected from otherwise healthy alcohol-dependent subjects and control subjects matched by age, sex, and smoking history.

Measurements and Main Results: Redox potential was calculated from measured reduced and oxidized Glutathione in plasma and lavage. Among subjects who did and did not smoke, lavage fluid Glutathione redox potential was more oxidized in alcohol abusers by approximately 40 mV, which was not altered by dilution. This oxidation of the airway lining fluid associated with chronic alcohol abuse was independent of smoking history. A shift by 20 mV in plasma Glutathione redox potential, however, was noted only in subjects who both abused alcohol and smoked.

Conclusions: Chronic alcoholism was associated with alveolar oxidation and, with smoking, systemic oxidation. However, systemic oxidation did not accurately reflect the dramatic alcohol-induced oxidant stress in the alveolar space.

Although there was compensation for the oxidant stress caused by smoking in control groups, the capacity to maintain a reduced environment in the alveolar space was overwhelmed in those who abused alcohol. The significant alcohol-induced chronic oxidant stress in the alveolar space and the subsequent ramifications may be an important modulator of the increased incidence and severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome in this vulnerable population.
Mary Y. Yeh1, Ellen L. Burnham2, Marc Moss2 and Lou Ann S. Brown1

Glutathione and Detoxification

One of glutathione’s primary roles in the body is to detoxify a number of drugs and toxins. Acetaminophen has been studied intensively in regard to its Glutathione-depleting properties, and with regard to glutathione’s ability to prevent APAP-induced liver and kidney damage.

Since GSH levels decrease with aging in all tissues, including the liver and kidney, older organisms are thus at even greater risk to APAP-induced liver and renal damage than younger organisms.



Lang’s group studied the effect of APAP on the livers of mice of different ages, and the extent of GSH depletion and recovery. In control animals, GSH concentrations decreased about 30 percent over the lifespan of the aging mouse, compared to younger animals.



Four hours after APAP administration, GSHlevels of the young, growing (3- to 6-month-old), mature (12-month-old), and old (31-month-old) mice decreased about 70 percent. The growing and mature mice recovered to near control values by 24 hours (94 and 66 percent, respectively). In contrast, old mice recovered only 41 percent in 24 hours (Fig. 5).

These results clearly demonstrate that the aging mouse liver is not only deficient in GSH, but has a reduced recovery capacity.This illustrates the danger of chronic administration of Glutathione-depleting drugs.

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Why are Antioxidants Important for Sperm Quality?

Mammalian spermatozoa are coated by a membrane rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

These fatty acids are extremely susceptible to oxidative damage by free radicals or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) by a process called lipid peroxidation (LPO).
Lipid peroxidation damages the sperm cell membrane. It is considered to be the key mechanism of ROS-induced sperm damage and leads to
> Loss of sperm motility
> Abnormal sperm morphology
> Reduced capacity for oocyte penetration
> Infertility

To protect sperm from damage, the body depends on powerful antioxidant enzymes in the body such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase/reductase (GPX/GRD). Seminal plasma and spermatozoa have several antioxidant enzymes - glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase. Some amount of all the antioxidant enzymes, which may protect spermatozoa from oxidative attack, are also made by the epididymis during storage.

The glutathione peroxidase/reductase enzymes play a central role in the defense against oxidative damage in human sperm.

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Male Infertility and Glutathione

It is a well-known fact that sperm counts have dropped by half in the last 50 years, and that modern men have 20 percent less semen volume than their fathers (BMJ, 1992, volume 305).

A recent report from researchers in Aberdeen presented preliminary data that suggests the sperm concentration of the men seen in their clinic had declined by 29% over the past 14 years. (British Fertility Society; 5 January 2004)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals from normal, everyday plastics are known to cause reproductive damage, as documented in Theo Colborn's book "Our Stolen Future."Damage to sperm caused by exposure to common chemicals like alcohol, pesticides in food, has been linked to lowered intelligence and behavioral disorders in children.

Lifestyle risk factors known to decrease sperm quality include

> Cigarette smoking
> Alcohol consumption
> Chronic stress
> Nutritional deficiencies.

Other reasons for infertility include congenital factors, and health conditions like prostatitis and diabetes that can affect sperm production.

Pollution is stealing our future, and there's little anyone can do to avoid it. There may not be a lot you can do to reduce your exposure to persistent environmental toxins.

But there are definite measures you can take to reduce the impact of the environmental pollutants and toxins on your body.You can prevent and, to a certain extent, repair the damage they cause to your body, through a better lifestyle and nutrition.

Some nutritional therapies and antioxidants that have proven beneficial in treating male infertility and improving sperm counts, sperm morphology and motility include:

> Carnitine
> Arginine
> Zinc
> Selenium
> Vitamin B-12
> Vitamin C
> Vitamin E
> Glutathione
> Coenzyme Q10

Studies show that anti-oxidant supplementation - glutathione in particular - can improve sperm quality, and possibly increase your chances of conceiving.

If you smoke, drink, are exposed to stress, chemicals, radiation, pesticides or take medication or drugs (like sulfasalazine, ketoconazole, azulfidine, anabolic steroids, marijuana) that affect fertility, you should consider taking an antioxidant supplement to reverse some of the damage.
By Priya F. Shah

Why is Glutathione Essential to Health?Glutathione's three major roles in the body are summarized by the letters A-B-C.
- Anti-oxidant
- Blood Booster
- Cell Detoxifier

Other symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia

* Pain in muscles
* Weariness
*Sleeplessness
* Pain in joints
* Restless legs
* Headaches
* A tingling feeling, or feeling of numbness
* Memory impairment
* Feeling nervous
* Feeling depressed

You can do the following:

If you are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, your doctor will prescribe medication and/or therapy for you.

But there are some personal management techniques that you can also employ:
* Make sure you take some time each day to relax and detox
* Wake up and go to bed at the same time each day, and make sure you get enough sleep
* Exercise on a regular basis; start out slowly and work toward more strenuous activities
* Educate yourself to keep up with the latest research
* Look for a support group

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History of Fibromyalgia

Even though Fibromyalgia has been around for hundreds of years, it remains a mystery to this day. It has been known by many different names, like chronic muscle pain syndrome, fibrositis, tension myalgias and psychogenic rheumatism.

Fibromyalgia is a combination of Greek words:
“Fibro,” meaning fiber
“My,” meaning muscle
“Algia,” meaning pain

History:
1800s Fibromyalgia was first described doctors. They called it muscular rheumatism.

1824 A doctor in Edinburgh described the “tender points” associated with Fibromyalgia

1880 Another doctor, describing the same condition, named it neurasthenia.

1904 An article referred to it as fibrositis. (“itis” means inflammation.)

1913 A physician named Luff noted that fibromyalgia symptoms changed as barometric pressure lowered as a storm approached.

1976 The term Fibromyalgia replaces the term fibrositis, recognizing that the condition is not caused by inflammation.

1987 Fibromyalgia was recognized by the American Medical Association as an illness and cause of disability

1987 The term fibromyalgia was used in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1990 The American College of Rheumatology establishes guidelines for diagnosing fibromyalgia

Having Fibromyalgia can be frustrating because it is hard to diagnose and is often misunderstood. Unfortunately, doctors still don’t know what causes Fibromyalgia. And some refuse to recognize the disease because it can’t be diagnosed through x-rays and tests.The American College of Rheumatology has created guidelines to help assist physicians in diagnosing and studying the condition. However, not all doctors agree with the established guidelines for diagnosis. Some don’t recognize the disease while others think that the criteria are too strict.

Glutathione Deficiency Side Effect of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Though medical health professionals have yet to identify a specific cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, they have been able to delineate several contributing factors that may lead to or exacerbate the condition. One of these factors appears to be a glutathione deficiency.

What is Glutathione?
Glutathione is a tripeptide that has many different functions to support a healthy body. The three amino acids that comprise glutathione are:
*Glycine
*Cysteine
*Gamma-glutamic acid

What does Glutathione do?

Glutathione serves the body in many important ways:

1. modulator of cellular homeostasis
2. detoxification of metals and oxyradicals
3. strong free radical scavenger, prevents damage to DNA and RNA
4. boost immune function
5. creates enzymes to assist the liver with detox

Click here to demonstrate to you why glutathione is so important to your health and well-being.