Free radicals and oxyradicals play an important role in development and progression of many brain disorders such as brain injury, neurodegenerative disease, schizophrenia and Down syndrome.

Glutathione is brain's master antioxidant and plays an important protective role in brain.

According to Dr. Jimmy Gutman, "The brain is particularly susceptible to free radical attack because it generates more oxidative by-products per gram of tissue than any other organ."

Many neurological and psychiatric disease processes are characterized by... abnormalities in glutathione metabolism and antioxidant defenses."

Generation of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) and oxidative damage are an important cause of neuron (brain cell) death from brain injury.

Chemicals that cause toxicity to certain brain cells are known to decrease cerebral glutathione (GSH), making cells more vulnerable to reactive oxygen species (ROS). (1)

On other hand, over-expression of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) enzyme potently decreases cell death from brain injury. (2)

Brain Injury and Glutathione - The Gender Difference

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that males and females respond differently to brain injury. (3)

In animal models, levels of glutathione remain constant in females who have suffered a brain injury, but drop by as much as 80 percent in males with same injury.

When glutathione levels drop, brain cells die much more quickly. This suggests that boys with brain injuries may require different life-saving treatments than girls.

N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a precursor of glutathione, already approved for use by U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat people who have overdosed on acetaminophen, may be an effective treatment for brain injury in boys whose brains are deprived of oxygen.

Brain Disorders and Glutathione - A Genetic Cause?

Genetics researchers have found that glutathione S-transferase gene controls onset of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and determines, not if we get these diseases, but when. (4)

The glutathione S-transferase gene has previously been linked to risk for Parkinson's disease among people who used pesticides.

A previous article covered importance of glutathione in Parkinson's Disease. http://www.1whey2health.com/parkinsons_glutathione.htm

Alzheimer's Disease and Glutathione

Free radicals and oxidative damage in neurons is known to be a primary cause of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid-ß peptide (Aß) accumulation in senile plaques, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been implicated in neuronal degeneration.

Amyloid plaques encroaching on brain increase production of free radicals, or oxidative stress. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E "mop up" damaging free radicals.

Glutathione (GSH) precursors can prevent death of brain cells induced by amyloid plaques in Alzhiemer's disease, while substances that deplete GSH increase cell death. (5)

Evidence has been piling up over link between amount of an amino acid called homocysteine in blood and chance of developing Alzheimer's.

For people not genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer's, cholesterol and homocysteine, largely caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, are core causal factors.

There are many aspects to a healthy weight loss program, and to help you sift through faddish information, here are two keys you should know. You need to know your body's protein requirements and know your resting metabolic rate.

There are many other aspects of healthy weight loss, but these two points are a sensible place to start when you are looking for a program that will help you lose weight and keep it of, forever!

Just why is protein so important? Protein helps you to build and maintain lean muscle. Apart from creating a pleasing body shape and providing your body with strength, lean muscle burns calories and helps to keep your metabolic rate up. If you do not have enough protein in your diet, you will compromise your body's lean muscle tissue and not build your best personal shape. Another wonderful aspect of protein is that it signals to brain a feeling of fullness. This in turn, controls your appetite, making weight loss easier!

How much protein do you need for healthy weight loss? To know this you need to find out your personal lean body mass. Your lean body mass is weight of everything except weight of your fat, muscles, bones, organs and fluids. A weight loss professional may be able to measure lean body mass. However without equipment for a precise reading general rule for healthy weight loss is 1 gram of protein for every pound of lean body mass. If you weigh 100 pounds, then your maximum level of protein would be 100 grams.