Methylation
I think Fredd's analogy of the elephant was very good.
There is lots of info reporting wonderful results with glutathione for some people. There is plenty of info reporting that it has very bad effects on others.
As we all know, the methylation cycle can break down in different places and to different degrees for different people. Some can move glutathione on through the cycle and use it properly, others cannot. Fredd is not unique in getting bad symptoms from glutathione. Ask any DAN doctor and they will tell you.
Thank you again Fredd for your help, research and explanations of this very complex topic.
Yes, Fredd, thank you for you research.
I am just beginning to get my feet wet in understanding methylation. I came across the following in my search and wondered whether it might help to post it here. Please forgive me if this has already been posted or discussed, I am finding it difficult to do searching here. I thought the article points out as Athene commented above at how complex this issue is.
The excerpt is from the following site:
enzymestuff.com/methylation.htm
HTH,
Maxine
Methylation
Copyright August 2002. Kd.
last updated 8.25.05
This is a discussion which tries to outline the points of methylation and establish some relationships that will result in the practical application of the information. Special thanks to andrew who contributed many links and much understanding to this discussion.
This link has a nice picture of what this process looks like. You may want to refer to it often during the following discussion.
http://www.nutriwest.com/articles/homovmsm.htm
The issue of a person being an under or over methylator can be confusing. It may not be one of the all time critically defining issues, but it may help in the general sense. Several common supplements often recommended for those with autism spectrum conditions are involved in this process (this is just one of the processes these supplements may help with).
A "methyl" group is simply one carbon connected to three hydrogen atoms. It may be written as CH3 with the 3 being a subscript.
"Methylation" is not just one specific reaction. There are hundreds of "methylation" reactions in the body. Methylation is simply the adding or removal of the methyl group to a compound or other element.
So why do we care about methylation at all? In general, when some compounds receive a methyl group, this "starts" a reaction (such as turning a gene on or activating an enzyme). When the methyl group is "lost" or removed, the reaction stops (or a gene is turned off or the enzyme is deactivated). Some of the more relevant methylation reactions would be:
1. getting methyl groups "turns on" detox reactions that detox the body of chemicals, including phenols. So if you are phenol sensitive, and you increase your methylation, then theoretically your body can process more phenols and you can eat fruits without enzymes!
2. getting methyl groups "turns on" serotonin, and thus melatonin, production. Therefore, if you are a under-methylator, you can increase your methylation and have higher more appropriate levels of serotonin and melatonin. This means you may not have to take SSRIs, or may have improved sleep.
3. if you are an over-methylator you can take certain supplements to decrease methylation and perhaps turn off reactions that need to be off. This may decrease aggression or hyperness, for example.
This is the general idea. To what extent this actually works in real life for any individual is back to "every one is different." But this is one thing that the Pfeiffer Treatment Center really looks at. I hope this explanation helps.
Something to note is that everyone is not EITHER an over OR under methylator. There are more groups than that, and you may be just fine in regards to methylation. Even if the Pfeiffer statistic is exactly correct when they say 45% are under-methylators and 15% are over-methylators, that totals 60%, so almost half the people are neither.
Where this MIGHT be helpful would be in picking supplements. So someone may do badly on the high B6 protocol. If that person does badly on TMG or DMG too this may be a clue that they will do poorly on ALL the methylation precursors so they can steer clear of that group in high doses. And vice versa, if they did really well with one, then they may also do well with others in the group. Of course, they may not see additional benefit if the methylation process is fixed with the first supplement, but it is something that might help a person know why they or their child is consistently doing well or poorly with a group of supplements.
Is there any evidence to support this? Well, I am looking at the ARI data gathered from over 18,500 parent surveys. Let's say Pfeiffer is exactly correct and under-methylators are about 45% of the "autism" population. These are the values for the precursors for methylation:
- calcium 39% saw improvement
- DMG 43% saw improvement
- Folic acid 44% saw improvement
- B6/mag (both of these are precursors) 46% saw improvement
- Zinc 43% saw improvement
So if you look at any of the precursors, really, most are around that 45% mark of under-methylators (calcium was a little low, but it is a supporting element). So we have a mark of consistency here. SAMe, methionine, and B12 were not choices. What this does NOT point out is which came first.
Was zinc low for some reason not related to methylation and because it was low, methylation dropped? or are you a genetically low-methylator to begin with and do not utilize the nutrients at hand well? Or was folic acid the bottle-neck? or magnesium deficiency? Or an injured gut which cannot adequately absorb any of the nutrients? or....
This is how I see it, just as a general guideline that may be helpful, not a cast in stone type of thing.
