Glutathione FAQs
What is Glutathione derived from?
Is Glutathione FDA approved?
What is Glutathione?
What study proves it works?
What improvement in symptoms can one expect?
How long can a person take Glutathione and how long will the effect last after I stop using it?
How long has Glutathione been used?
How is Glutathione given?
How do you measure Glutathione levels?
What about side effects of the drug and interactions with other drugs?
How does the Glutathione work?
What is Glutathione derived from?
Glutathione is made like many other bio-engineered products, by feeding a micro-organism a certain nutrient and allowing it to make the glutathione.
Is Glutathione FDA approved?
No compounded product is FDA approved in the narrow sense of the definition, but Glutathione is in the GRAS (generally regarded as safe) category.
What is Glutathione?
It is an important chemical that acts as a powerful antioxidant to preserve and protect the brain and other body tissues by protecting them from the damage of free radicals. It also acts to recycle vitamin C & E which also reduce free radicals.
What study proves it works?
The landmark study was done by the Department of Neurology, University of Sassari, Italy in 1996. In this study all patients improved significantly after glutathione therapy with a 42% decline in disability.
What improvement in symptoms can one expect?
Many patients have had profound improvements with respect to reduction of rigidity, increased mobility, improved ability to speak, less depression, and decreased tremor. Glutathione has the added benefit of protecting the brain from free radical damage, thus possibly slowing the progression of the underlying illness.
How long can a person take Glutathione and how long will the effect last after I stop using it?
It can be taken permanently. In the 1996 Italian study the therapeutic effect lasted 2-4 months after therapy was stopped.
How long has Glutathione been used?
Dr. David Perlmutter, a board certified neurologist from Naples, Florida, started using it in 1998 for his
How is Glutathione given?
It is given intravenously in the arm by IV push over 10 to 15 minutes usually three times a week in a physician's office.
How do you measure Glutathione levels?
Oxidative stress causes a deficiency of intracellular glutathione, therefore making it difficult to measure. Most practitioners will order an oxidative stress panel or amino acid analysis to look at the amino acids that make up glutathione or are involved with the synthesis of glutathione. You can also measure total glutathione and look at the ratio of reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione to assess glutathione levels. Several labs currently have these oxidative stress or amino acid test kits. All require a prescription.
What about side effects of the drug and interactions with other drugs?
There are no significant side effects with glutathione. It is not recommend to be given at the same time as any other IV products. For example, vitamin C can oxidize it and render it ineffective if given along with it. It is contraindicated to give glutathione while a person is taking cancer chemotherapy drugs since glutathione increases the ability of the liver to process chemicals. This may cause the chemotherapy to be less effective.
How does the Glutathione work?
There are many factors that explain why glutathione is so beneficial in Parkinson's disease. First, glutathione has the unique ability to make certain areas of the brain more sensitive to dopamine, so that even though dopamine is decreased, it nevertheless becomes more effective - aka it increases the dopamine receptor's sensitivity. Another possible mechanism is its antioxidant activity-protecting the brain from free radical damage. Additionally, glutathione has tremendous detoxifying ability through out the entire body.
