Baby Boomer Health and Wellness Center

Many of us suffer from bouts of depression from time to time, and depression has a detrimental effect on memory. I found a study on depression and glutathione discussed at GlutathioneDiseasaeCure.com and referenced at PubMed.gov.

The Glutathione Treatments for Depression

The glutathione treatments for depression provides a simple easy way to eliminate for some, what is a debilitating condition.

Many have discovered what seems to be an effective depression treatment … This treatment for depression is actually backed up with science. It is simply boosting glutathione with supplemental cysteine intake.

First consider what a study from Biological Psychiatry has to say.

Cysteine for Depressive Symptoms is an published study in Biological Psychiatry, November, 2008 1;64(9):e1.

The full title: N-acetyl cysteine for depressive symptoms in bipolar disorder–a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. The study noted that both depression and bipolar disorder are complicated by glutathione depletion. They started with the premise that N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a precursor of glutathione, could improve the depressive felt in bipolar disorder.

The study was randomized, double blind multi-center placebo study of people with bipolar disorder. They were treated with NAC given adjunctive to their usual treatment.

They were measured on a depression rating scale, a time to a mood episode, Bipolar Depression Rating Scale and 11 other ratings of clinical status including quality of life, and functioning.

The study found that NAC treatment resulted in significant improvement. In all but one of the measurements it worked in a frame of 2 to 20 weeks. The depression treatments were found results considered good to great in over 3/4 of the measurements.

You will read in the abstract that the conclusion was that NAC appears to be a safe and effective augmentation strategy for depressive symptoms in bipolar disorder.

However there was a flaw in the study. Well, a flaw of sorts.

The method of administration of NAC and the effectiveness of the NAC was limited to the quality of what would be typically purchased over the counter at a health food store.

There currently are patented formulations of NAC and Cysteine that have been clinically proven to boost glutathione far above the levels that can be obtained from just the generic variety of NAC.

In effect, the NAC is augmented to be more effective. To be sure, most people give it at least a month to two months to see if it is effective for them. Although many will find it works in three days to a week, numerous anecdotal experiences have found that it can take up to two months to realize the full effectiveness.

The effectiveness of these alternative treatments for depression come from a novel approach. Help the body to get into a state of health and the mental health will follow on its own.

Bottom line, be patient. What do you have to lose, well, besides your depression.

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You can raise the glutathone level in every one of your cells by ingesting MaxGXL.

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I maintain that careful, intelligent use of natural supplements can improve memory and help our aging brains adapt to today’s information overload. BUT, what supplements should we take…which are most beneficial with the least amount of possible side effects? Without a doubt, our first move should be toward supplementing antioxidants.

Antioxidants are truly nature’s little miracles. Their benefits are enormous and endless…they are true superstars in our bodies and our cells. They are on guard 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, protecting us from the free radicals that are produced by cellular action which occurs after we breathe in oxygen.

Each time we breathe in oxygen and our cells produce energy through normal everyday living processes, molecules inside of our cells react with the oxygen we inhale. This is called oxidative stress. Just like oxygen reacts with metal on a car and produces rust, “rust” (oxidation) happens in every single one our cells. In other words, every moment of every day, our cells are “rusting”…this rusting is known as “aging”. We experience oxidative stress in our cells, which leads to damaged tissues and damaged body organs…which will eventually lead to the many diseases of aging (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, etc.).

So we agree that we need to be taking an antioxidant supplement — but which one is best to take? I personally am big on ‘natural’ supplements, and every cell in our bodies have a natural antioxidant called glutathione.

Glutathione is produced by every cell in the body. It is so critical to cellular function that thousands and thousands of medical articles have been written about it. It is the body’s most powerful antioxidant…millions of times more effective than Vitamin C and E. Intracellular glutathione fights inflammation and preserves cellular health. It also works to help improve mental functions, increase energy, improve concentration, support increased exercise, and improve heart and lung function.

Glutathione has been shown to slow down the aging process, detoxify and improve liver function, strengthen the immune system, and reduce the chances of developing cancer. Glutathione also works to help improve mental functions, increase energy, improve concentration, permit increased exercise, and improve heart and lung function - just to name a few. IV glutathione is being examined as a possible treatment for autism (autism is often associated with low glutathione levels in the cells of the body).

The body’s supply of glutathione begins to decline 10% to 15% per decade starting at the age of twenty. Stress, exercise, infection, injury, and environmental toxins are a few things that significantly reduce glutathione. Low glutathione levels result in lower energy, higher cellular inflammation, greater vulnerability to cellular damge, accelerated aging, and less effective immune function.

Energy, healthy organs and skin (after all, your skin is an organ), and the ability to fight the damage caused by free radicals all require healthy cells. While adding antioxidants to your diet can be beneficial to supporting good health, it is glutathione…the natural antioxidant produced by your body… that is most important for protecting healthy cells.

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The bad news is that we live in an era when even young, agile brains are experiencing information overload. Constantly bombarded by info from TVs, newspapers, magazines, faxes, email, and non-ending data posted on the internet, I, for one, often think that too much is being required of my once considerable (now waning) mental powers.

The good news is that science continues to learn new ways to boost even the aging brain’s performance. Science now has a detailed picture of how the intricate machinery of the brain functions…and this makes it much easier for baby boomers to take a variety of supplements to give us the nutritional, neuro-chemical, and hormonal substances necessary for optimal brain performance. I suggest that careful, intelligent use of natural supplements can improve memory and help our aging brains adapt to today’s information overload.

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I have often said that once a guy or gal turns 50 or so, he/she is taking pills for everything from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, and baldness to urinating too much or not enough (and a myriad of other not so pleasant problems). It seems like there is a pill for everything…except perhaps for remembering to take all the pills!

Remember how you use to make fun of older folks’ absent-mindedness? Like the time your elderly neighbor locked herself out of the house for the third time one month? Or the day your dad’s friend Frank took the Dart train home because he forgot that he had driven to work in downtown Dallas that morning (this is not as bad as it appears - Frank usually took Dart to and from work)? And how about the time your mom put liquid Joy dish washing soap into the dishwasher soap dispenser instead of Cascade? Now that I am in my 50s, these ’senior moments’ aren’t so funny anymore…except maybe for the Joy in the dishwasher. I still chuckle at the visual image of my mother with a mop in her hands, knee deep in the soap suds that flowed so freely out of the dishwasher during that wash cycle!

Like most baby boomers, I have noticed some physical changes in the last few years. Some of the changes sort of crept up on me, while others seem to have appeared virtually overnight (although these I probably just did not notice until they became obvious). The most distressing of these changes is the frequency of the dreaded ’senior moment’. I realize that my aging brain cannot function like it did thirty years ago…but I am NOT enjoying having to make lists of things I could once remember effortlessly; and I am tired of the seemingly ever present thought, ‘it is on the tip of my tongue’.

Of all the usual signs of aging, the scariest are those that affect the mind. I will define a senior moment as a lapse of memory, logic, or mental function which is atypical or unusual. In other words, ’senior moment’ is an unscientific term for a variety of mental glitches…the most common of which is the temporary inability to recall a name, a phone number, or what you were about to do. Ever gone into a room to get something and forgotten what you went in there to get? Welcome to the ’senior moment’!

Part of the normal aging process is a general slowing of cognitive function - in other words, it becomes harder to pay attention and process information. Mental clarity wanes.This usually starts in the 50s and 60s. Why does it start? There are fewer neurotransmitters in the brain. (Neurotransmitters are the chemicals released by neurons that allow nerve cells to communicate by acting as messengers across synapses, the spaces between brain cells.) The brain shrinks, leaving less brain matter and fewer intact connections between brain cells. White matter — the fiber tracks connecting the front of the brain to storage areas — changes so that information takes longer to process. The brain becomes like a computer that freezes temporarily as it tries to call up a file. This time lapse is the senior moment where you have a hard time recalling names or choosing the right word.

But, you ask, should I be concerned about the memory loss of senior moments? Is what I am experiencing the first signs of something worse…something like Alzheimer’s disease?

Although I am no medical expert, both my mother and my mother-in-law passed away after long, ugly, seemingly endless bouts with Alzheimer’s. I saw the disease up close and personal. I lived with it every day and watched it consume the brains of two once remarkable women. I can tell you what I noticed about the disease. Extreme changes in mood, behavior, or memory can be a signal of early Alzheimer’s…and I do mean extreme here. If you have always been kind of ditzy, it is not really unusual that you can’t remember things well; BUT, if you have always had a remarkable memory and now can’t remember things, I would go talk with your doctor.

With early Alzheimer’s, there is a significant change in short term memory. You can pull up obscure old memories, but have difficulty with recent events and conversations. You may forget the names of simple things. You may go from being very organized to frequently misplacing things. If you cannot find your car in a parking lot because you forgot to look at the number associated with the space in which you parked, you are probably having a senior moment. If you can’t remember the make of the car or the color of the car and it is the car that you drive all the time, I’d make an appointment with a doctor.

Just remember that there is a huge difference between the mild cognitive impairment of normal aging and Alzheimer’s. People with normal age-related memory loss are usually able to compensate for these changes by using lists and other memory aids. In other words, the senior moments don’t generally impair daily functioning. If you’re concerned, get evaluated by a family doctor or a memory specialist…and do it sooner, rather than later. And also remember, DO NOT PANIC. There are many other physical conditions that can cause memory problems — depression, alcohol abuse, thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies, hormone fluctuations… and you will notice that these are treatable. If it is Alzheimer’s, getting help early may be able to reduce symptoms and slow the progress of the disease - at least for awhile.

Susan Juricek Uncategorized Absent Mindedness, Aging Brain, Baby Boomers, Dishwasher Soap, Elderly Neighbor, Friend Frank, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Lapse Of Memory, Liquid Joy, Max Gxl, Max International, Maxgxl, MaxINFUZE, MaxWLX, Memory Loss, Mental Glitch, Senior Moment, Senior Moments, Soap Dispenser, Soap Suds, Taking Pills, Tip Of My Tongue, Train Home, Visual Image