From the Desk of Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson, DC.....

What is Glutathione?

Some of you reading this blog may not be familiar with glutathione.  Also called GSH, Glutathione is the most powerful, prevalent antioxidant in your body.  The most well-known antioxidants are vitamins C and E.  Glutathione is a tripeptide molecule composed of the amino acids; glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine, which exists in almost every cell of your body.  Our glutathione level actually indicates our state of health and can predict longevity.  Scientific evidence has found that glutathione is needed by our body to enhance the immune system response.  There are more than 60,000 published papers on the beneficial effects of glutathione replacement, unfortunately, it is still largely ignored by mainstream medicine.  Normal glutathione levels are important for good health because they neutralize free radicals, which can build up in cells and cause damage.

The main thing you want to really understand about glutathione is that it is something that our body makes all throughout our cells and our tissues. Glutathione has many functions. One of the main functions is it’s an antioxidant, so it protects against free radicals. Free radicals destroy tissues when we have an inflammatory response. Glutathione is a mighty warrior for our body and you will want to know more about this amazing chemical.

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COVID-19 can sometimes overwhelm young and old immune systems and in some cases can result in ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’ pneumonia and death (CDC (2020). The risk is greater for older people who may simultaneously be dealing with cancers, heart disease, diabetes, emphysema or other health issues.  As we age the immune system deteriorates  (immunosenescence) which reduces the response of the adaptive immune system that needs to respond to the virus infection (Aw, Silva & Palmer, 2007; Osttan, Monti, Gueresi, et al., 2016).

Severity of disease may depend upon initial dose of the virus

In a brilliant article, How does the coronavirus behave inside a patient? We’ve counted the viral spread across peoples; now we need to count it within people, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee points out that severity of the disease may be related to the initial dose of the virus.  Namely, if you receive a very small dose (not too many virus particles), they will infect you; however, the body can activate its immune response to cope with the infection.  The low dose exposure act similar to vaccination.  If on the other hand you are exposed to a very high dose then your body is overwhelmed with the infection and is unable to respond effectively.  Think of a forest fire. A small fire can easily be suppressed since there is enough time to upgrade the fire-fighting resources; however, during a fire-storm with multiple fires occurring at the same time, the fire-fighting resources are overwhelmed and there is not enough time to recruit outside fire-fighting resources.

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Because of the Corona virus scare, people have been asking what they can do about it.  In addition to being a doctor of chiropractic, I'm also a certified clinical nutritionist, certified functional medicine practitioner and have been helping chronically ill people for 36 years.

Who is at risk with the Corona virus?  Those whose immune systems are compromised, and people who are malnourished.  Also, older people are more susceptible. If you are not immunocompromised or malnourished, you aren't going to die.  And there is no reason to panic.

Here's some of the things you CAN do:

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