* As others also pointed you out, it is N-AcetylCysteine, C5H9N03S, FW 163.2, acetylated version of cysteine, enters cells easier than non-acetylated, and is safer and has less side-effects than plain cysteine. It helps to elevate liver GSH-levels somewhat, and has been found very useful in treating various lung problems, including bronchitis etc, and is really good for smokers and amalgam victims as heavy metals deplete GSH in lungs, what is the first line of defense in lungs, and as NAC can take over some functionality of NAC in lungs, it can be very helpful in big doses, for example, many SMOKE victims have been treated with IV NAC, with 3-4 grams and even more with decent results. NAC enters cells better in liver, and then deacetylated, and the Cysteine is then available for GSH-formation within cells, as a part of the GlutamylCysteinylGlycine, which some people also call GSH or Glutathione. There are some other experimental versions of thiols that were more effective in elevating intra-cellular glutathione levels, and so far most POTENT has been ethyl/methyl esters of Glutathione. Unfortunately I have been UNABLE to convince several nutrient manufacturers to start manufacturing such "improved" version of GSH, just like there are Ester-C, (which though is NOT REAL C-vitamin ester to my knowledge...) seems that mercury/other poisoned whose GSH-conjugation pathway is overloaded/deficient is not good business to those companies, or they just don't plain understand what Meister/Anderson and many other researchers have discovered there. I as planning this as one of my "aces" in addition to the "engineered organic acid chelators etc idea ", but I do not have ENOUGH funds to have these compounds produced in big enough amounts , and as my other ideas have worked very well for me, I may not need to do such soon, but I still urge people to look at liver thiol metabolism much much more.

* From: Ray S <mercure@PRIMENET.COM>

To your results, your sulphur is in the low END, but mine was in the same test only 49 following EDTA chelation while I was fairly heavily poisoned. Thats the Doctors Data as well, test done in COS by EDTA MD. I was unfortunate then that Haley's data wasn't out yet, glad I didn't have more than a few as I started feeling really ill from it, and I decided together with the MD to discontinue the drug. Also, my blood sulfhydryl-groups were very low at 270 y,ol/l, which is similar to the WORST arthiritis patients, and surely, I was also given a shelve diagnosis "arthritis reactiva" which was because the MD's knew my joint pain was from mercury, they refused to diagnose it as just arthritis...

I think that low blood Sh-groups, low GSH in organic acid test, low urinary unsupplemented sulphur result, as well as high cysteine/sulfate ratio in liver panel or organic acid panel are actually very significant, probably one of the "major stones" separating those whom don't get well quick without nutrition from those whom are not depleted ...

Yours is in the low end, but you are doing fine compared to the worst cases that are very very low in thiols, and those people are typically those with severe joint and neural symptoms etc.-related shelve-diagnoses with typically very high amount of amalgams for very long time. There are people with very severe disabling "arthritis-like" joint pains that are nothing else but great big containers of heavy metals and simultaneously people deficient in thiols and people with poor sulfoxidation. There is an EXCELLENT abstract in Nature in 1966, way ahead of it's time. A masterpiece. Anyone wtih severe joint pain, please consider your having your sulphur metabolism checked in addition to your mercury levels. One would need to see all your organic acid, liver panel, RBC-mineral and some liver-enzyme test results to be able to hypothesize much more...

Logically, the smaller amount one has free SH-groups in the blood and urine, the less the person can detoxify mercury. That to me is also a great indicator of the extent of the poisoning, a severe one that has depleted all free SH-groups available close to what is needed for survival. I believe you need to read a bit more before you can really get enlightened about the importance of thiol/mercury interactions in the biochem, but if you do so, I am very sure that you won't regret that you did that.

"The pattern of my scores now seems odd to me. I seemed to score either very high or very low on 28 elements tested. I scored very high in calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, chromium, and arsenic. This test also indicated I scored high (the word was "elevated" as opposed to "expected range" and "very elevated") on lead (0.108 m), cadmium (0.007 mg), and cobalt (0.049 mg)."

That's the way EDTA goes. EDTA is kinda weird, and I would not fool around with any EDTA, I got quite sick from it. As you see, EDTA is pulling a lot of your useful trace-elements in addition the harmful ones, EDTA is pulling very much zinc etc. which does not happen with DMSA for example. EDTA is not very cool for mercury poisoning treatment, but is probably very ok for the blood circulation or whatever it is used mainly for. I refuse to have anything to do with EDTA myself - it is probably great 1930's invention, but I am trying to live 1990's, so it is not for me really. If you have some panels like Organic acid and liver function panels done, I can always hypothetically give you possibly some nutritional/dietary information, intented for your self-education. I believe that is what I can do legally, and I have never done anything else but given nutrition/metabolism related info, and always suggest people to go to physician when they want medical chelation like DMSA. In Germany, people though are given rights to do oral chelation without needing physician, but it is still advisable that they go to physician so that at least they have someone to sue in case things didn't go right ;-? Better for the professional businesses that way as well. Gotta be legal, and correct and right ?

Also make sure to read these books: Poison in Your Teeth: Mercury Amalgam (Silver) Fillings...Hazardous to Your Health! and Mercury Detoxification by Tom McGuire