Glutathione Against the Coronavirus

Before we get into our main topic today on glutathione first some good news: A 35-year-old Seattle-area man identified as the nation’s first person with coronavirus developed pneumonia while in the hospital but has improved after getting antiviral medication, according to a report published last Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is the first indication we have that the coronavirus is treatable.

Thailand’s Health Ministry announced Sunday that a 71-year-old Chinese woman who was infected with the 2019-nCoV coronavirus has exhibited a dramatic improvement just 48 hours after being treated with a cocktail of antiviral medications used for influenza and HIV.

Fortunately for us there are many anti-viral medications. However, the best ones are not the ones they are going to push because they have side-effects that can be threatening, to say the least. The best happen to be natural medicines used in ICU departments, like bicarbonate, iodine, selenium, magnesium chloride and as we shall see today, glutathione. All of these substances strengthen the body and do not have nasty side-effects.

The coronavirus is spreading rapidly and at this point we all have to tune into what is happening. The CDC has issued a quarantine, first time in over in 50 years. And seems like half of China has been shutdown over the virus. As of Saturday afternoon, at least 21 provinces, municipalities and other regions in China have told businesses not to resume work before Feb. 10, at the earliest. The northern city of Tianjin, home to some 15 million, suspended all schools and businesses until further notice.

There is not one sign that this will not develop into a pandemic that will crush everyday life, if not from the virus itself then with the health authorities closing down cities and even locking people in their own homes. Travel and economic activity is quickly grinding to a halt in China and that could be the model we will see in the coming weeks all over the globe. Time will tell.

Nobody knows the endgame to this viral outbreak yet. It is still the early days of the epidemic, and its dynamics will take time to fully understand. The scale of the impact will depend on how contagious and lethal it reveals itself and that should become clearer in the next two to four weeks.

National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease chief, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said, “The mortality rate looks like 2% to 3% but could be much lower if many mild cases or infections with no symptoms are going undetected.” SARS proved fatal in about 10% of cases. The flu’s mortality rate is only 0.1%, yet it kills hundreds of thousands around the world each year (if you trust official statistics) because it infects millions.

Only the Chinese will be able to build 1,000 bed hospitals in a week so expect health systems around the world to collapse under the weight of mass infections in worst case scenarios.

Few will avail themselves in advance of the knowledge that can save them from death or avoid the coronavirus infection altogether. The smart ones will begin treatment in their homes long before panic sets in in one’s town or city. If one is not prepared to take care of themselves in such epidemics one could run into substantial trouble.

On the front lines of defense are magnesium, bicarbonate, iodine and selenium, as well as Vitamins A, D and C. Another principle nutritional agent that can be applied intravenously, if one is already suffering the worst, is glutathione.

Importantly glutathione can be Nebulized directly into the lungs with bicarbonate for an excellent treatment when the lungs become inflamed. This can be important for ICU and emergency room doctors as well as patients at home who are suffering with the flu that is affecting the lungs.

Glutathione a Tiger Against Viruses

Glutathione is the most important cellular defense that allows the body to prevent and fight infections and disease. Gutathione plays crucial roles in the immune response, DNA repair, and the detoxification process that neutralizes drugs, chemicals, radiation, metabolic wastes, beats down viruses, bacteria and reduces toxins and carcinogens that are increasingly present in our environment.

The immune system cannot function properly without plentiful glutathione and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E rely on it to function properly within the body. Glutathione (GSH) and the GSH-replenishing enzymes keep the antioxidant status of normal cells at a level where they can avert oxyradical-derived mutations. When we talk about sulfur pathways and sulfur sufficiency we are at the same time touching on glutathione because glutathione is a sulfur enzyme.[1]

Glutathione is manufactured by every one of our trillions of cells, and the level of glutathione in our cells is predictive of how long we will live. Without the cleaning and chelating work of Glutathione (magnesium and sulphates needed) cells begin to decay as cellular filth and heavy metals accumulate – excellent environments to attract deadly infections. Without sufficient GSH, the body accumulates toxins and acid residues, degenerates rapidly, ages prematurely and dies more easily from viral and bacterial infections.

Low glutathione levels, low cg syndrome or low GSH levels are associated with over 74 diseases or conditions and is a major biological player when it comes to dealing with viral infections. Supplemental GSH has been studied extensively and seen to inhibit viral production indicating and has been seen to be valuable in the prevention and treatment of other hemorrhagic viral infections like dengue.[2]

Over 98,000 scientific studies and articles on Glutathione are recorded in PubMed, the official U.S. Government library of medical research. Those articles reveal the remarkable role glutathione plays in the protection and function of every cell in the human body and the support of optimal health and function. They also show the terrible consequences of low glutathione levels, and how those lower levels accelerate the aging process.

Gluathione is a sulfur based enzyme and can float up to anything and attach itself to it. It is like sticky flypaper, whatever GSH attaches itself to cannot escape and is removed from the body. GSH is our body’s natural scavenger, knows what is normal and belongs and what does not. Obviously, anything that is not normal like bacteria, viruses and fungi will be quickly removed if there is enough GSH present to do the job.

In another major active defensive pathway, glutathione makes sure that all components of the immune system are strong and operating efficiently. Without the interaction of GSH with the immune system it remains weak and unbalanced thus leaving patients with infections, vulnerable to death. It does not matter if a virus or bacteria has mutated or not, it will be recognized by GSH and removed. GSH is a basic first line of defense and should be used for all life threatening infections. Bottom line when fighting nasty infections—without sufficient GSH you will die but you will not see it listed by the authorities as a treatment for the coronavirus.

The first step in anti-viral or bacterial medicine is to build the strength of the immune system. Our immune cells are designed to protect us, but what protects the immune cell? Glutathione is the protector of the immune cell and allows newly formed immune cells to proliferate to attack germs and viruses. Glutathione feeds, protects, and strengthens our immune system.

Glutathione boosts white blood cell production to fight infection, particularly the T-cells, which are called lymphocytes. T-cells are at the core of our immunity, and tailor the body’s immune response to pathogens, viral and bacterial infections or anything the cells recognize as being invasive. Studies have shown that Glutathione is food for the immune cells, boosting the strength of lymphocytes. B-cell lymphocytes identify the unwanted pathogen that the T-cells then attack.

GSH protects us from viruses, such as the herpes virus, flu viruses, and probably from Ebola as well. Our white blood cells are cells help fight off viruses. They need an abundant supply of glutathione to be able to effectively protect us from invading micro-organisms and viruses. Inhibition of cellular respiration, oxidation of glutathione and induction of apoptosis have been reported in epithelial cells infected in vitro with influenza A virus (IAV).[3]

Extracellular human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral protein R causes reductions in astrocytic ATP and glutathione levels compromising the antioxidant reservoir.[4] Reduced and oxidized glutathione levels were determined in liver biopsy specimens obtained from patients with chronic liver disease including chronic active hepatitis and cirrhosis. In patients with hepatitis B virus infections, GSH and GSH/GSSG levels were significantly low compared with those in controls.[5]

This is the strongest Glutathione 1.5 (1,500mg reduced glutathione) available on the market. The product I have been recommending for years is less expensive but offers much less glutathione per dose. Ingesting Glutathione does not raise Glutathione levels since it is poorly absorbed through the digestive system. The fragile tripeptide (3-amino acid) structure of Glutathione makes surviving the digestive tract a near impossibility. This is why using the above suppositories brings excellent results as do glutathione IVs.

Health care providers give glutathione by injection into the muscle for preventing poisonous side effects of cancer treatment (chemotherapy) and for treating the inability to father a child (male infertility). IV glutathione is used to treat diseases related to the brain (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS), liver (alcoholism) or help those with suppressed immunity (HIV or patients undergoing some chemotherapies like cisplatin). When it’s administered by a medical doctor who has a total picture of your health and body chemistry it is safe. When administered by one’s self at home via suppositories it is even safer. Many people on IV glutathione go once or twice a week and at upward of $900 each administration so one can see how cost effective suppositories are.

Healthcare providers also give glutathione intravenously for preventing “tired blood” (anemia) in kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment, preventing kidney problems after heart bypass surgery, treating Parkinson’s disease, improving blood flow and decreasing clotting in individuals with “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis), treating diabetes, and preventing toxic side effects of chemotherapy.

Glutathione can be nebulized for treating lung diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and lung disease in people with HIV disease.

Dr. Julian Whitaker writes, “Alpha lipoic acid also ramps up glutathione synthesis and significantly enhances detoxification, and we use it at the clinic, along with selenium and silymarin, to treat hepatitis and other liver diseases. Recent research suggests that the “sleep hormone” melatonin boosts glutathione status too, by stimulating production of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase. We’ve had particularly good success treating patients who are recovering from strokes and those with hepatitis, neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, and other chronic illnesses—conditions associated with dramatic increases in oxidative stress and depletions in glutathione. IV glutathione isn’t a slam-dunk, and it’s always used in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen and other therapies, but we’ve seen remarkable improvements, particularly in patients who’d been told that nothing else could be done.”

Nutritional Status and Viral Disease

The association between viral disease and nutrition has long been thought to be due to effects on the host immune system.[6] This theory suggests that when a host is malnourished, the immune system is compromised, and thus increased susceptibility to viral infection will occur. However, the virus itself may also be affected by the nutritional status of the host. This is true for all viral infections and no less true for the coronavirus. It is one of the basic reasons that separate the survivors from the majority who perish. The difference between life and death can be measured in the severity of cellular stress.

When it comes to human papilloma virus or HPV, or any virus problem for that matter, it is crucial that you are getting adequate amounts of selenium in your diet or using a supplement. Glutathione requires selenium for its production. Selenium is a trace mineral that the body incorporates into proteins to make over 25 different selenoproteins including the enzyme glutathione peroxidase. Researchers working with the flu virus discovered that animals deficient in selenium were more susceptible to infectious diseases. Animals with a selenium deficiency, when contaminated with the flu virus, the flu virus mutated into a far more virulent form when it was passed on to the next animal. The AIDS infection rate is highest in those African countries with low levels of selenium in their soil.

The pre-cursors of glutathione synthesis are the amino acids glutamate, glycine and cysteine, with cysteine being the most important amino acid. As people age or experience disease, glutathione levels in the blood decrease, causing a reduction in this life-sustaining antioxidant. Dietary sources of glutathione are therefore necessary to replenish stores and avoid losses.

Magnesium deficiencies cause glutathione depletion and production of glutathione is also dependent on magnesium.[7] Glutathione synthetase requires-glutamyl cysteine, glycine, ATP, and magnesium ions to form glutathione.[8] According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, low magnesium is associated with dramatic increases in free radical generation as well as glutathione depletion and this is vital since glutathione is one of the few antioxidant molecules known to neutralize mercury.

Dr. Melinda Beck, a virologist at the University of North Carolina, and Dr. Orville Levander, a nutritional chemist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, described how a run-of-the-mill coxsackievirus mutated into the deadly, rapidly reproducing strain when an infected person or animal was deficient in selenium or vitamin E. When selenium is deficient, we can assume that glutathione levels will be lower.

SEE REFERENCES ▼

What’s Happening

1. Jan 24: Treatment Recommendations For New Virus That Is Shutting Down Entire Cities
2. Jan 27: Coronavirus Epidemic – Should We Panic Yet?
3. Jan 28: Coronavirus Killing Even Healthy People?
4. Jan 29: The Joke of Medical Quarantines
5. Jan 30: Navigating Viral Storms and Avoiding Death
6. Jan 31: Dosages and Treatments for Coronavirus Infections
7. Feb 3: Glutathione Against the Coronavirus
8. Feb 6: They Don’t Want You to Know Basic Viral Treatments – Water is the Most Basic Treatment
9. Feb 10: World Ready to Freak?
10. Feb 13: World Health Experts Have It Wrong
11. Feb 17: Deadly Viral and Economic Reapers
12. Feb 19: Mild Mannered Coronavirus
13. Feb 24: The World Is Running Out Of Time
14. Feb 28: Virus, 5G and Pollution Combine to Destroy Wuhan
15. Mar 2: Untrustworthy Coronavirus Tests and Statistics