The Details     

The role of glutathione in good health is critical. Its presence or absence in our cells often determines the difference between correct and healthy cellular function and impaired or abnormal cellular function. The more we understand about glutathione, the more we realize that its presence is not just important, it is crucial to inter- and intra-cellular function, cellular communication, methylation and cellular detox, mitochondrial ATP energy production, and a myriad of other critical bodily processes. It is involved in DNA replication and repair, lipid management, monocloanal expansion and redox modulation. It is considered the "master antioxidant" and the list of its functions is extensive.

What is the relevance to Autism?

Extensive clinical studies have shown that individuals with autism have a very low, in fact, critically low, level of glutathione. The ramifications of low levels of glutathione are catasrophic in anyone. The confirmed deficiency states of low glutathione already include a long list of problems, including autism. In all cases, it is recommended that glutathione levels be augmented.

Note what leading autism researcher, Dr. Jill James, found during her study on autism and glutathione... "James and her colleagues compared blood samples of 90 autistic children to those of 45 children without the disorder, and found that the active form of glutathione was reduced by about 80 percent in children with autism." Read full article here.



The Physician's Desk Reference continues on the importance of increasing glutathione:

"Glutathione augmentation is a strategy developed to address states of glutathione deficiency, high oxidative stress, immune deficiency, and xenobiotic overload in which glutathione plays a part in the detoxification of the xenobiotic in question. Glutathione deficiency states include, but are not limited to: HIV/AIDS, infectious hepatitis, certain types of cancers, cataracts, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinsons, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, radiation, poisoning by acetominophen and related agents, malnutritive states, arduous physical stress, aging, and has been associated with sub-optimal immune response. Many clinical pathologies are associated with oxidative stress and are elaborated upon in numerous medical references. Low glutathione is also strongly implicated in wasting and negative nitrogen balance, notably as seen in cancer, AIDS, sepsis, trauma, burns and even athletic overtraining." Physician's Desk Reference, 2010