Re: Glutathione-Anne/Holly

[Guest guest]

I don't post very much, but wanted to share my experiences with glutathione. I take N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to increase glutathione. There is a doctor at Stanford who is just starting studies on the possibility of patients with mitochondrial disorders having low glutathione levels. My understanding is that glutathione is an anti-oxidant that helps to "eat up" free radicals, similar to CoQ10 and carnitine. N-acetylcysteine is an FDA approved medication that is used for tylenol overdose but will also increase these glutathione (also called GSH) levels.

In February, I had my GSH levels tested (this must be done very carefully in order to obtain accurate results) by my local geneticists and sent to Stanford and Baylor, along with one other lab in NC that tests GSH levels. I believe it was done as a favor for us by Baylor, but I could be wrong about that. Anyway, my GSH levels came back low at both places (we are still waiting on Stanford's result). I started NAC in April and just had my GSH levels retested last week and they are now HIGH!

We are also looking into the possibility that the NAC may actually be increasing my blood CoQ10 levels as well since glutathione, CoQ10, and carnitine all work together and if one is working more efficiently it may be possible that this may have beneficial effects on the others. The verdict is still out!

If you are interested in learning more about the GSH levels and NAC, e-mail me offlist and I will fill you in a little more and give you the name of the mito doctor at Stanford who is starting studies on this.

Malisa