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One of my blog readers left a comment on a post mentioning that they give their daughter S.O.D (SuperOxide Dismutase) as a supplement. In the meantime, I have had email correspondance with them and discussed this topic, but I thought it would be helpful to share here as well.
SuperOxide Dismutase itself is sold as a vitamin supplement by a lot of companies. In and of itself, SOD is not bad. It is a powerful antioxidant. But, as with almost anything, too much SOD, causes lots of damage.
The gene for SOD is on the 21st chromosome and is 50% overexpressed in Down Syndrome because of the triplicated chromosome 21.
One example of the increased SOD can be seen in the study, Increased superoxide dismutase and Down's syndrome,
The enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) is a constitutive enzyme coded by a gene located in Chromosome 21 (21q22.1). Thus, the tissues from patients with trisomy 21 contain 50% more SOD activity.This triplication causes an increase in the hydroxyl radical, which causes free radicals. Free radicals then turn into oxidative stress. Oxidative stress causes apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Because of this, I would not supplement with S.O.D. because it IS in excess in DS. And the excessive amounts are not helping people with DS, but actually causing many problems.
In Down Syndrome there are not enough antioxidants to combat the increase in oxidative stress, because the antioxidants are low. Zinc is low in DS, because of the overexpressed SOD gene. Glutathione is low because of the overexpressed Glutathione Peroxidase gene.
There are so many other good antioxidants that you can give people with DS, such as Zinc, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Blueberry, Curcumin, Coenzyme Q10, etc, that I would not want to supplement with a source that is known to be overexpressed in DS.
Is the supplemental form of SOD the same as the form that is overexpressed in DS? I don't know, but personally, I wouldn’t want to risk it. SOD is overexpressed from the time the child is in the womb and throughout their whole life.
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3 comments:
I have a 10 year old with DS.. He now takes Protandim. Our lives have forever have changed.. wow!! I now am a distributor for LifeVantage.. my website is www.lifevantage.com/351075. If you would like to talk to others with Children with DS who are taking Protandim call me I would love to share...Dawn
I did my research actually spoke to doctor Marvin. What the research shows is that the sods are high in our kidos with DS. PROTANDIM actually regulates them. I was worried when I read that Protandim can increase SOD,S. because our kids don't need it increased. I need to find the study that was done and published in national institute of health that proved it regulates it. Also the other thing I learned is Protandim increases glutathione in our body too. And DS KIDS have low levels of glutathione. That's why we should not give our kids Tylenol. Decreases glutathione. Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed and research there. The lazyman makes money every time some clicks on his website. The more controversy the better for him. Please don't imply I don't do my research. I do. I am sure you do too. What may work for one may not work for another.
@Dpuhlein - Thanks for sharing what you have found! I'm glad you posted this information, as it allows people to research both sides and look at more. If I was doing more research like I used to do all the time, I'd write up a post about it. I suppose I may still try to do that, but being newly married and now pregnant, makes my time schedule a little different than it used to be :).
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