Frequently asked questions

Yes, glutathione is a natural protein that is naturally present in every one of the trillions of cells in our body.

Glutathione occurs in all body cells of every living organism. In considerably smaller amounts, glutathione is also found between the cells and in body fluids such as blood plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, bile and sweat.

The highest glutathione levels are found in the red blood cells (oxygen transport), in the liver and kidneys (detoxification) and in the heart and nervous system, both of which require particularly large amounts of energy.

The body's own glutathione has many positive effects:

• It increases energy, concentration and vitality.
• It detoxifies the entire body down to the cellular level.
• It increases cell performance.
• It supports an optimal supply of oxygen to the cells.
• It protects cells and mitochondria (“cellular power plants”) from damage.
• It strengthens the body's defences and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
• It promotes resistance to stress.
• It prevents disease processes.
• It serves anti-ageing or better-ageing.

“From outside”, these effects can only be achieved with the pharmaceutical active substance S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger®. This can be explained scientifically and has been confirmed by clinical experience and studies.

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Yes, nature actually intended our organism to produce the glutathione it needs itself. However, today's diet and modern lifestyle mean that sufficient glutathione synthesis is hardly possible any more. Supplementation of glutathione in a bioavailable form is therefore useful and helpful for almost everyone, especially as the body's own GSH production declines with increasing age.

Brewer's yeast extract contains 1% reduced glutathione, freshly slaughtered liver approx. 0.7%, liver from the shop a maximum of 0.3%. These are followed by fresh ham, avocados, asparagus, watermelons, peanuts and fresh fruit and vegetables. As a rule, however, with our modern lifestyle it is not possible to take in sufficient reduced glutathione through food.

If the body suffers from oxidative stress, this means that there are too many ROS (reactive oxygen species) in the organism. These are free radicals that contain an oxygen compound. These molecules are also called oxygen radicals for short. They cause great damage in the body because they damage other molecules, for example cell membranes or genes. Oxygen radicals can damage virtually all cell structures throughout the body.

Nitrosative stress is also caused by free radicals, except that the molecules concerned contain nitrogen compounds rather than oxygen compounds. These are also referred to as reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Just like ROS, these radicals damage a wide variety of the body's molecules and thus structures in the organism.

This term refers to the disease of, or damage to, certain cell structures: the mitochondria. The mitochondria are also called the “power plants of the cell” because this is where energy is produced. Such damage to the mitochondria has, for example, been proven to be involved in diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular diseases, morbid obesity and cancer. For a great many other health problems, it is assumed that mitochondriopathies are involved as a cause or as an accompanying factor.

Eumetabol® is helpful for all clinical pictures associated with glutathione deficiency, increased oxidative or nitrosative stress or impaired mitochondrial functions. These include, among others:

• post-viral syndrome (chronic exhaustion, multi-organ disease following a viral infection, e.g. in Post-COVID syndrome)
• COVID fatigue
• chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
• other exhaustion syndromes such as burnout
• cancer (as an accompanying therapy), including cancer-related fatigue
• heavy metal burden (e.g. chelation therapies with SAG for heavy metal elimination)
• diseases of, or damage to, certain cell structures (mitochondriopathies), which include, for example, metabolic syndrome
• chronic inflammation (oxidative and nitrosative stress)
• diabetes mellitus
• infections and fungal infections
• rheumatoid arthritis
• arteriosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases
• allergies and intolerances
• fibromyalgia
• cataracts
• morbid obesity
• degenerative nerve diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's dementia and others
• male fertility disorders

Eumetabol® has also proven itself for general disease prevention, for enhancing performance and for “anti-ageing”.

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Simply answer the following questions with yes or no:

• Do you feel tired, drained and exhausted?
• Do you often have infections, or are you currently suffering from an infection?
• After a viral illness or another illness, are you simply unable to get back to your old form?
• Are you currently recovering from an illness?
• Would you like to increase your physical and/or mental fitness?
• Is your lifestyle or diet not optimal?
• Are you under stress?
• Do you want to overcome jet lag or other strains quickly?
• Would you like to take targeted action to prevent ageing processes and diseases?
• Have you been diagnosed with an increased heavy metal burden?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you can improve your quality of life substantially and lastingly with Eumetabol®. Compared with conventional glutathione preparations, Eumetabol® increases intracellular glutathione levels demonstrably, markedly and for a long time. This achieves many positive effects.

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Yes. Eumetabol® is a compounded medicine (Rezepturarzneimittel) that has been used successfully for over 30 years in the treatment of exhaustion. The special active substance in Eumetabol® ensures that the body's own energy production functions optimally again. This also applies when symptoms such as tiredness and weakness occur as a result of a viral infection (e.g. EBV or SARS-CoV-2).

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Post-viral syndrome is a combination of various symptoms that can occur as a long-term consequence of a viral illness. Possible triggering viruses include herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, Epstein-Barr virus, enteroviruses, cytomegalovirus and, in particular, SARS viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the cause of coronavirus infection.

The symptoms include severe exhaustion, pronounced tiredness, concentration problems, impaired memory function, lung damage, muscle pain, joint pain, lymph node pain and also depression. How it develops is still largely unclear. Studies assume that a high percentage of all people who fall ill with COVID-19 subsequently struggle with post-viral complaints or COVID fatigue. Particularly striking is the distressing lethargy, which can occur even after mild courses of COVID and even after asymptomatic coronavirus infections.

The term post-viral syndrome refers to late effects and long-term consequences of various viral illnesses. The syndrome has been known for many years, although it has not yet been conclusively researched. Viruses that can trigger the associated symptoms include Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex viruses and enteroviruses. A main symptom is severe exhaustion (fatigue). The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) lists postviral fatigue syndrome under code G93.3.

The terms Long COVID, Post-COVID-19 or Post-COVID syndrome are used when post-viral syndrome is specifically triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, i.e. when the long-term symptoms can be attributed to a coronavirus illness. In the ICD-10, this post-COVID condition is listed under the provisional code U09.9. COVID fatigue describes one aspect of this symptom complex, namely the severe exhaustion.

S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger® can indeed be used in all three cases. It acts preventively against infections with viruses and bacteria, as it supports the immune system in its work, so that both excessively weak and excessively strong (overshooting) reactions are avoided. In addition, it prevents viruses from entering the cells and from multiplying. In the acute phase of a viral illness, SAG also works by inhibiting viral replication. And finally, SAG protects against secondary damage from viral infections by, among other things, reducing the oxidative stress that always arises from such infections.

If late effects have already occurred (for example in the case of problems such as fatigue or persistent complaints after COVID-19), Eumetabol® has proven itself as a compounded medicine with which symptoms such as reduced performance, shortness of breath due to weakness or concentration difficulties can be treated successfully.

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Glutathione therapy with Eumetabol® demonstrably and effectively increases intracellular glutathione levels. This achieves several effects at once that are helpful in post-viral syndrome:

• The body's own energy production increases, counteracting the persistent lethargy suffered by Long COVID patients and in particular by patients with COVID fatigue.
• The immune system as a whole is supported so that it can work in a balanced way. Secondary damage from a SARS-CoV-2 infection is reduced.
• The cells are protected against oxidative stress, which always occurs in the course of viral infections. Cell damage, which in turn can lead to post-viral syndrome and other secondary diseases, is thus reduced or does not occur in the first place.

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Even with a healthy lifestyle, the body's own glutathione levels are usually reduced nowadays. This is because modern life as a whole involves too many burdens, including those over which we have no influence. That is why increasing the intracellular glutathione level promotes health and well-being in every person and helps prevent infections, long-term consequences of infections, other diseases and signs of ageing.

To increase the intracellular glutathione level, you need S-acetyl-glutathione (Eumetabol®), because “normal” reduced glutathione (GSH) oxidises on its way into the cells. This applies regardless of whether it is taken orally or administered as an infusion.

In Eumetabol®, by contrast, the sensitive SH group is protected by a special pharmaceutical preparation process. Only after the active substance has penetrated the cell walls do enzymes inside the cell convert the SAG back into reduced glutathione.

The body's own glutathione, as naturally contained in the organism, is a “super molecule”. In order to exert its comprehensive health effects, it oxidises very quickly: it donates electrons to other molecules and is consumed in the process. In its oxidised form, it is no longer available to the body.

If you want to increase the intracellular glutathione level, there is little point in simply supplying reduced (“active”) glutathione from outside. It makes no difference whether this is done orally or by infusion. This is because before the reduced glutathione reaches the cells, it is destroyed, e.g. in the digestive tract and in the blood. As a result, it loses its efficacy and the intracellular glutathione level does not change substantially.

Experts therefore agree that the glutathione level cannot be effectively increased with simple reduced glutathione. This can only be achieved with S-acetyl-glutathione, as contained in Eumetabol®.

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No, such a “therapy” is completely ineffective. Although the so-called precursors glutamic acid, cysteine (or N-acetyl-L-cysteine) and glycine are of course important for the glutathione system, it is not possible to increase the glutathione level effectively with them. There are various reasons for this:

• In most cases, the function of the mitochondria is already impaired by the glutathione deficiency. They are then no longer able to assemble sufficient glutathione from the precursor substances.
• When the three individual substances are given, it is impossible to estimate which amino acid is needed in which dose. If, for example, N-acetylcysteine (ACC, an expectorant) is given when the real problem is a glycine deficiency, the therapy is useless.
• Glutathione deficiency can also be promoted by the absence of so-called “co-factors” for glutathione synthesis. These auxiliary substances are needed to “assemble” glutathione from the three amino acids. If co-factors are missing, giving the individual components is pointless, because the chemical reactions required for glutathione synthesis cannot take place.
• It is difficult to dose the amino acids correctly. N-acetyl-L-cysteine, for example, is a chemical substance that is produced synthetically. Only a certain percentage of the cysteine it contains is available for glutathione production. In one patient this may be 10%, in another 20%. An exact dose calculation is therefore almost impossible.

For all these reasons, administering N-acetylcysteine and other glutathione derivatives has not proven effective for increasing glutathione levels.

All Eumetabol® preparations contain the pharmaceutical active substance S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger®. This has many advantages over other glutathione preparations; for example, only with it can intracellular glutathione levels be increased lastingly and effectively. Another unique feature is the quality of Eumetabol®. It is manufactured and tested exclusively in Germany according to the strictest specifications.

As an additional special feature, the Eumetabol® therapy concept provides for individual dosing. In this way, the optimal effect is achieved with the smallest (and therefore most cost-effective) dose. And finally, the negative effect of feedback inhibition, which makes therapy with conventional glutathione preparations ineffective, does not occur with Eumetabol®.

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GSH is the abbreviation for reduced glutathione. This is glutathione in its active form: it can oxidise. In this way, the body's own GSH can perform many positive functions in the organism. With GSH supplied from outside, however, the ability to oxidise is a problem: it oxidises so quickly that it cannot even reach its site of action in the cells. The “culprit” is the highly reactive SH group, which is also reflected in the name.

GSSG is the abbreviation for oxidised glutathione. In this form, it can no longer act. It must first be “recycled”.

SAG is the abbreviation for S-acetyl-glutathione. This substance is formed when reduced glutathione is acetylated.

In addition, the SAG in Eumetabol® (“S-acetyl-glutathione according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger®”) is manufactured in Germany under the strictest requirements. It is a pharmaceutical active substance. As a result, unlike other preparations, its quality is assured.

Acetylation is an established pharmaceutical process. It is also used for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, “Aspirin®”). The biochemist PD Dr. med. habil. Gerhard Ohlenschläger was the first to apply this process to reduced glutathione in order to make glutathione usable for medical purposes.

Acetylation protects the sensitive SH group of glutathione. The result is S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG), which, unlike GSH, can easily pass through cell membranes. Inside the cell, SAG is converted back into GSH by enzymes. In this way, the body can make optimal use of the active substance.

Yes, clinical experience has confirmed the positive and lasting effect of the Eumetabol® quality preparations for many years. The strong and lasting effect has also been demonstrated in studies.

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No general side effects of Eumetabol® are known. However, you should eat something before the infusion, as some people find the rapid detoxifying effect strenuous on an empty stomach. If you suffer from intolerances (e.g. to histamine), please talk to your therapist before the therapy.

The healthy body has a mechanism to ensure that not too much glutathione is produced in the cells: when sufficient reduced glutathione is present, a signal (a “feedback”) is sent to a particular enzyme that is needed for glutathione production. This enzyme then reduces its activity. The result is lower glutathione production.

Under today's living conditions, the body generally tends to produce too little glutathione. However, feedback inhibition also sets in when “normal” reduced glutathione is supplied from outside. The organism registers the extra glutathione and reduces its own production, or “endogenous biosynthesis”. This results in a so-called zero or negative effect, which runs directly counter to the therapy.

In therapy with the pharmaceutical active substance S-acetyl-glutathione according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger® (Eumetabol®), the body does not recognise the glutathione on its way to its site of action (into the cell), because acetylation brings about a “chemical masking”. Feedback inhibition therefore does not take place.

Yes. The Eumetabol® quality preparations are the only glutathione preparations that are manufactured entirely in Germany. Their pharmaceutical active substance S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger® meets the highest quality and safety standards:

• Specially developed for medical use
• Developed over more than 30 years of glutathione research
• Pharmaceutical active substance
• Highest purity enables the fastest and most lasting effect
• Controlled by an external and independent testing institute
• Manufactured entirely in Germany, in guaranteed consistent quality and purity
  • Compliance with the strictest national, European and international guidelines
  • Manufacturing verified by official inspections
  • All legal requirements for pharmaceutical active substances are met (an important difference from questionable plagiarised products)
  • Active substance of every single Eumetabol® batch comprehensively tested and confirmed with a meaningful, valid certificate of analysis in accordance with the German Pharmacy Operations Ordinance (Apothekenbetriebsordnung)
  • Validated test methods according to recognised pharmaceutical rules
• Research and application accompanied by a scientific advisory board of doctors, scientists and other experts
• Pioneer of high-dose therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome and other exhaustion disorders

A further safety advantage of Eumetabol®: Every single batch is tested in accordance with the requirements of the applicable pharmacopoeia, with all the tests listed therein. This is done by an external and independent testing institute that carries out regular quality testing of pharmaceutical raw materials and finished medicinal products at the highest level: PharmBioTec GmbH.

To test the products, PharmBioTec GmbH uses exclusively state-of-the-art equipment that is regularly qualified and maintained and reflects the latest technology, in order to ensure the reliability of the data collected. The highly qualified staff receive continuous further training through internal and external training and continuing education measures. Through regular GMP inspections, PharmBioTec GmbH is certified as complying with the GMP guidelines. In this way, Eumetabol® guarantees the best product quality and patient safety.

The laboratory monitoring of therapy with S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) serves

• to find the dosage that is individually most effective for each patient,
• to keep the dosage, and thus the costs, as low as possible,
• to demonstrate the increase in glutathione values and to make the effects of glutathione therapy measurable.

Conventional glutathione preparations are poorly suited to achieving intracellular effects. They contain so-called reduced glutathione (GSH), as it occurs in the body. This oxidises very quickly, so that it is broken down shortly after uptake (oral or infusion). Here, Eumetabol® with SAG according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger® offers the optimal alternative, as it acts inside the cell, where glutathione is needed.

In addition, there are many imitation preparations that must quite simply be described as dubious plagiarisms.
In this overview you can see some of the reasons for their lack of efficacy.

Yes, there are many ways to supplement it. These should always be determined individually. Therapies with components such as the following have proven effective, for example:

• Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin)
• Vitamin D3
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Quercetin
• L-phenylalanine
• L-valine
• L-leucine
• L-isoleucine
• L-threonine
• L-tryptophan
• L-methionine
• L-lysine
• L-histidine
• L-arginine
• L-taurine
• L-creatine
• Sodium bicarbonate
• Glandulae suprarenales comp.
• Bach flower essences

For more detailed information, we recommend personal and individual advice from a therapist.

Glutathione infusion with Eumetabol® is clearly superior to oral glutathione cell therapy. The effect sets in much more quickly, and because the infusions are given at the therapist's, extra appointments for blood value checks are saved. In addition, many patients simply find it more pleasant to receive an infusion from their therapist rather than having to remember to take tablets, capsules or powder themselves every day.

Infusions are also more suitable for patients with swallowing difficulties or patients who need high doses.

And finally, Eumetabol® infusions are also the better choice for particularly severely affected patients. Take the example of very weakened cancer patients. In these patients, S-acetyl-glutathione is given in addition to tumour therapy in order to relieve cancer-related exhaustion. Taking tablets is often too strenuous for these patients.

• The effect sets in particularly quickly.
• Administration is safe, reliable and in the individually correct dosage, directly at the therapist's.
• Counting out or measuring higher doses (tablets, capsules, powder) at home is no longer necessary.
• Accidental underdosing or overdosing, or forgetting to take a dose, is avoided.
• The therapy schedule is thus reliably adhered to.
• Additional appointments to monitor glutathione values and therapeutic success are no longer needed: blood sampling for the laboratory test can take place at the same appointment as the infusion.
• For special patient groups (patients with swallowing difficulties, very weakened patients), infusions are a particularly suitable dosage form.
• If required, supportive preparations can simply be taken orally.

Yes, Eumetabol® infusion therapy can usually be combined very well with the administration of selenium and/or with high-dose vitamin C therapy. However, Eumetabol® infusions also offer optimal and proven combinations with their own formulations, e.g. in the form of the Eumetabol® infusion sets Detox, Fatigue or Immune.

This infusion contains both S-acetyl-glutathione (SAG) and “normal” reduced glutathione (GSH).

With S-acetyl-glutathione according to Dr. med. Gerhard Ohlenschläger®, intracellular glutathione levels are increased lastingly and effectively. Only in this way can the wide range of positive effects be achieved that the body's own reduced glutathione also has.

In addition, the combi infusion contains reduced glutathione. This acts only outside the cell and therefore has quite different effects from SAG. Reduced glutathione is an extracellular antioxidant or “radical scavenger”. This is particularly useful in chelation therapies (for the detoxification of heavy metals) and for preventing diseases of the nervous system that can occur in the course of chemotherapy. In these special cases, the combi infusion is the right choice.

Apart from the positive effects on health, energy and quality of life, which are usually noticeable very quickly, the intracellular glutathione level can also be measured. All that is needed is a simple blood sample, which the therapist takes and sends to a specialised laboratory. The success of therapy with Eumetabol® can therefore also be demonstrated “in figures”.

In addition, it is possible to measure how Eumetabol® therapy reduces oxidative stress. For this purpose, certain markers of oxidative stress (e.g. isoprostanes, NF-κB) are examined in the blood. Both the intracellular glutathione levels and the stress markers can be determined in specialised laboratories.

Dosing is individual and is adjusted by the therapist over the course of therapy. Ideally, the intracellular glutathione levels are determined from blood samples in specialised laboratories. In this way, the optimally effective dose can be determined at the lowest possible cost.

We will be happy to help you find a therapist who is experienced in glutathione therapy. Please use the therapist search. Viktoria Apotheke Saarbrücken will then reply to you individually within a few days.

No, a prescription is not necessary. All Eumetabol® preparations are preparations that are not prescription-only and are manufactured exclusively in Germany according to the strictest specifications.

Direct orders for the Eumetabol® Infusion can be placed with Viktoria Apotheke Saarbrücken. It guarantees an extremely short delivery time for ready-to-infuse solutions. An order form, among other options, is provided for ordering the infusion.

No, as a patient you can quite simply order Eumetabol® infusions directly from Viktoria Apotheke Saarbrücken. As Eumetabol® is manufactured entirely in Germany, no import is necessary. You also do not need a prescription for it. You then have the infusions administered by your therapist. Alternatively, your therapist orders the infusions themselves.

Viktoria Apotheke Saarbrücken offers therapists personal advice and support in planning individual therapy concepts. Please use the following contact details:

Viktoria Apotheke Saarbrücken
Bahnhofstraße 95–97
D-66111 Saarbrücken

Phone: +49 (0)681 91 00 55 00
Fax: +49 (0)681 91 00 55 029
versand@internet-apotheke.de

shop.internet-apotheke.de