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Cancer and Glutathione keywords:glutathione,preventing cancer,cancer and glutathione,
Article: I've been diagnosed with cancer and they are starting treatment? What treatment options are there? I know someone who has been through cancer treatments and I'm wondering what they can do to support their health? Dr Daria Davidson, a medical doctor with 30 years experience, speaks about glutathione and cancer. Using a reference, Glutathione Disregulation and the Etiology and the Progression of Human Diseases is the name of an article published in Biological Chemistry in 2009 she reads from the article, “Glutathione (GSH) plays an important role in a multitude of processes including cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis.” Apoptosis is the programming of cancer cells to kill themselves. Wickopedia describes it as follows: “These changes include blebbing, loss of cell membrane asymmetry and attachment, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation.” She continues quoting the article, “and as a result disturbances in the GSH homeostasis are implicated in the etiology and or progression of a number of human diseases including cancer, diseases of aging, cystic fibrosis, cardiovascular, inflammatory, immune, metabolic and neuro degenerative diseases. Owing to the pilotropic (large or big) effects of GSH on cell functions it has been quite difficult to define the role of GSH in the onset and or the expression of human diseases although significant progression is being made. GSH levels, turn over rates, and or oxidative states can be compromised by inherited or acquired defects in the enzyme transporters, signaling molecules or transcription factors that are involved in the homeostatic state or reactive chemicals,” as the article continues. Dr Davidson summarizes by saying, “This basically verifies that low glutathione levels increase the risk of disease.” However, if cancer is present, is there a problem with boosting glutathione? The question is asked because cancer cells also contain glutathione which actually serves to protect the cancer cell. The concern is that if cancer cells are weakened cells (as some professionals believe) then boosting glutathione could make them stronger. Her feeling is that if the cancer cell were a weakened cell in the first place it wouldn't kill us. So we want to do something to weaken them if we have them. She goes on to say that at every single moment of every single day we all have abnormal cells that could become cancerous. That where we want apoptosis to occur. That's where keeping glutathione levels high as possible plus doing other important things such as breathing clean air, eating good food, drinking pure water and other healthy habits come into play. Note that these healthy habits reduce the amounts of free radicals introduced to the cell and place less demand on the glutathione that is in the cell. But the big question is that if you have a cancer diagnosis would boosting glutathione be a good thing, not so good, or be harmful? Her professional opinion is that it's a stage thing dependent on the relative numbers of cancer cells vs immune cells available. One one end of the scale, if one is stage IV cancer (terminal) with cancerous cells rampant throughout the body, the number of immune cells is very low and therefore boosting glutathione would not be of benefit. In fact it might serve to strengthen the cancer cells. If, on the other hand, the cancer is early diagnosed or just been treated (weakened), then boosting glutathione would boost immune functioning—boost the immune cells to kill cancer cells. However, if glutathione is used before treatment, it may make the cancer cells more resistant to chemotherapy. She noted that glutathione not recommended for platinum based therapies as glutathione deactivates platinum. She also notes that in Europe the standard treatment is intravenous glutathione for many cancers. In summary, having sufficient glutathione in one's cells protects the cells from dangerous mutations that could lead to cancer. Like wise in the case of early diagnosis as well as post radiation or chemotherapy having sufficient glutathione is beneficial in boosting immune functioning. However, for latter stage cancers where the body is overrun by cancerous cells and immune functioning has been severely compromised, boosting glutathione levels is not recommended and may actually strengthen cancer cells.
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