The content of this article is from the book “The Comprehensive Guide to Glutathione”
by Dr. Jimmy Gutman MD
Anyone with the normal range of human emotions understand the word “anxiety’
but in medicine and psychiatry it’s more difficult to define and categorize. Current
diagnostic systems allow for “general anxiety disorder,” “panic disorder,” “phobias,” and
many other groupings. Clearly the symptom of anxiety occurs in many different psychological
conditions, making it likely that many factors are at play. In at least some anxiety disorders,
it appears that oxidative stress and glutathione deficiency are related.
Starting with animal studies researchers have shown that genetic manipulation
can down-regulate antioxidant genes and provoke anxiety in a group of rodents.
Hassan et al focused on the human condition in anxiety disorders, saying that it may be a
common feature of general anxiety disorder Phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and panic disorder.
A group of Turkish researchers has focused particularly on the down-regulation
of antioxidant genes in panic disorder for the past two decades. They are firm in their
opinion that oxidative stress, glutathione metabolism and inflammatory processes all
play a role in panic disorder. Considering that psychosocial stress might be a form
of anxiety, an interesting experiment studying lipid peroxidation was carried out in
older people-some of whom practiced transcendental meditation. Results showed
that meditators not only suffered less mental stress but also significantly lower oxidative stress.