6 ms·

Yeah, the body-wide mucous thinning properties of NAC are one of the reasons it has racked up papers showing its efficacy in a truly staggering number of illnes

Yeah, the body-wide mucous thinning properties of NAC are one of the reasons it has racked up papers showing its efficacy in a truly staggering number of illnesses and conditions. (Including neurodegenerative diseases.) Highly recommend reading the actual literature on its effects in regard to cystic fibrosis, pancreatitis, COPD, neurodegenerative disorders, high blood pressure, ulcers, IBD, liver and kidney problems, OCD... The list goes on at a pretty extreme length, and it sounds too good to be true, but the papers are out there.

ridgeguy 9mo ago
Can you suggest a review article or two? Interested in this as my dad passed from hemorrhagic stroke, my mom from occlusive stroke. Thanks.
- Loughla 9mo ago
  Would also like to ask for a starting point in this. Googling has not really gotten me anywhere credible. Specifically related to stroke or high blood pressure (both family traits).
  - refibrillator 9mo ago
    Here’s a starting point: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5241507/#B1 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5241507/#B1 TLDR: NAC is a derivative of an amino acid called cysteine, as such it is a precursor for one of the most important antioxidants in the body and it can modulate key metabolic pathways associated with good health across a variety of organs, notably for decades it has been a universally successful antidote for acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose, it’s available over the counter but NAC is not naturally found in foods, eating cysteine-rich foods like chicken turkey yogurt etc is the next best bet.
- sharmi 9mo ago
  [dead]
AnthonBerg 9mo ago
Seconded. I... I don't know how to get it across; For the love of God read the literature on NAC, alpha lipoic acid, bromhexine, and ambroxol. Just... read. Read the molecular biology papers.
- p1esk 9mo ago
  Would regular engineers like us understand molecular biology papers?
  - DANmode 9mo ago
    You’ll understand the abstract and the conclusion! :eyeroll:
    - p1esk 9mo ago
      OK, I just read the abstract and conclusion of the NAC paper posted above. But then I saw a comment from Aurornis saying it’s not that good. Not sure who I should listen to.
      - DANmode 9mo ago
        Keep reading papers until you decide for yourself.
  - AnthonBerg 9mo ago
    I'm just some rando and I do! It sounds like a hero story – it's not, it's more an existential nightmare and funny story? – but I kind of accidentally came to start reading all kinds of papers. Then fiancée was diagnosed with a severe condition. And just by having read stuff I found myself needing to interject doctors during her treatment, quite pointedly, to avoid risk of harm to her and unborn child – with my view being confirmed every single time by another doctor's second opinion. It's mostly about reading fast enough, not actually requiring a feeling of comprehension. Skimming and going fast through lots of stuff. With extreme humility!! And then bit by bit an intuition kind of grows and you cut through the jargon and get a feeling for the core things. The mights and maybes and relationships in things. And then sort of learning to trust and not trust that intuition and have it guide your reading. It mostly shows up as doubt – an active doubt? – rather than an opaque sense of not having any feeling for things. Then that sometimes refines away from doubt into a sense of clarity towards some mechanism that's probably at play. Keeping absolutely humble towards it is suuuuuuper important, and it's always necessary to retain the perspective of oneself as limited and fallible. It's also very hard to get this stuff into words. Seems more nebulous and "cosmic" than it is. It's just how our minds and reading comprehension work. It's about feeding the pattern detection systems with... substrate? A handle on things? There are a few reasons why it works. "Works" as in is beneficial and useful to read, beyond just trusting doctors. (Do trust doctors!, –Jusr... help them help you. That's the thing.) One reason is that doctors do not have time to read, even if they'd very much want to. This is sort of force-multiplied?... with the personalization aspect: It is immensely valuable to read molecular biology from the personal perspective of operating and being inside a specific instance of that molecular biology machinery. The doctor's view is always more general (and is always a guardrail of safety, in part because of that). Then another reason is that there is SO MUCH actionable science out there. Just eminently safe and very, very actionable. It's so hard to get it across how it might be so, how it could possibly be, but it is. It really is.
Trasmatta 9mo ago
It's also very effective at helping reduce the damage of alcohol, if you take it before drinking. Lessens hangovers too.
- n8henrie 9mo ago
  Citation?
- clankenfoot 9mo ago
  Potentially dangerous to put this idea in others' heads without being more explicit about the role of timing and the risk of harm. A dual effect of N-acetylcysteine on acute ethanol-induced liver damage in mice - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16439183/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16439183/ > By contrast, post-treatment with NAC aggravated ethanol-induced hepatic lipid peroxidation and worsened acute ethanol-induced liver damage in a dose-dependent manner. Mice be warned!
Aurornis 9mo ago
NAC is in the category of supplements that sound unbelievably amazing on paper, but are frequently discontinued by people trying to take it long term. Some people seem to like it, but it’s common for people to take it for a while and realize it’s causing side effects like anhedonia, apathy, minor sleep disruptions, or other subtle negative effects. Not everyone, but it’s a common outcome. It also doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the incredible sounding papers for many conditions. It’s really common to find papers or even small trials purporting to find amazing effects from supplements that fail to replicate at scale. NAC does have some legitimate applications and is even used medically for certain conditions. I’m a little more skeptical that all of the amazing positives for every condition under the sun will hold up.
- itchyouch 9mo ago
  When considering NAC's mechanisms, it seems that it's efficacy is likely dependent on an individuals's glutathione status. I doubt that folks with a solid diet, high in sulfur would find much benefit from NAC. However, as someone who's gotten to use it first hand and have dealt with lifelong, mild inflammation (puffy fingers, clogged nose here and there), it's definitely been a huge quality of life enhancer.
  - Aurornis 9mo ago
    > When considering NAC's mechanisms, it seems that it's efficacy is likely dependent on an individuals's glutathione status. NAC interacts with a lot of things. Not just glutathione. It modulates glutamate activity in the brain. That’s a key neurotransmitter. It’s why it can be helpful in some specific psychiatric conditions, but also why many people discovering it to be cognitively dulling or to induce blunt effect. It also interacts with trace minerals in your body. Taking it for a long time can reduce these levels, creating multiple secondary problems. The list of things it does goes on and on. It’s not a simple supplement for glutathione.
flowerthoughts 9mo ago
I can't find anything in the article about NAC or N-acetylcystein. What's the relevance?
- spoaceman7777 9mo ago
  The article is about improving the flow of lymph in the brain, and NAC thins mucous, lymph, and various other bodily fluids, which leads to improved flow and general clearance.
  - clankenfoot 9mo ago
    Thins lymph? And other bodily fluids?
clankenfoot 9mo ago
Why uh.. why is this ludicrous threadjack the top comment?
thelastgallon 9mo ago
I used NAC supplement for 1 year and it changed my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEC3gH0GC8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEC3gH0GC8E

ridgeguy 9mo ago

Can you suggest a review article or two? Interested in this as my dad passed from hemorrhagic stroke, my mom from occlusive stroke. Thanks.

Loughla 9mo ago
Would also like to ask for a starting point in this. Googling has not really gotten me anywhere credible. Specifically related to stroke or high blood pressure (both family traits).
- refibrillator 9mo ago
  Here’s a starting point: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5241507/#B1 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5241507/#B1 TLDR: NAC is a derivative of an amino acid called cysteine, as such it is a precursor for one of the most important antioxidants in the body and it can modulate key metabolic pathways associated with good health across a variety of organs, notably for decades it has been a universally successful antidote for acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose, it’s available over the counter but NAC is not naturally found in foods, eating cysteine-rich foods like chicken turkey yogurt etc is the next best bet.
sharmi 9mo ago
[dead]

AnthonBerg 9mo ago

Seconded. I... I don't know how to get it across; For the love of God read the literature on NAC, alpha lipoic acid, bromhexine, and ambroxol. Just... read. Read the molecular biology papers.

p1esk 9mo ago
Would regular engineers like us understand molecular biology papers?
- DANmode 9mo ago
  You’ll understand the abstract and the conclusion! :eyeroll:
  - p1esk 9mo ago
    OK, I just read the abstract and conclusion of the NAC paper posted above. But then I saw a comment from Aurornis saying it’s not that good. Not sure who I should listen to.
    - DANmode 9mo ago
      Keep reading papers until you decide for yourself.
- AnthonBerg 9mo ago
  I'm just some rando and I do! It sounds like a hero story – it's not, it's more an existential nightmare and funny story? – but I kind of accidentally came to start reading all kinds of papers. Then fiancée was diagnosed with a severe condition. And just by having read stuff I found myself needing to interject doctors during her treatment, quite pointedly, to avoid risk of harm to her and unborn child – with my view being confirmed every single time by another doctor's second opinion. It's mostly about reading fast enough, not actually requiring a feeling of comprehension. Skimming and going fast through lots of stuff. With extreme humility!! And then bit by bit an intuition kind of grows and you cut through the jargon and get a feeling for the core things. The mights and maybes and relationships in things. And then sort of learning to trust and not trust that intuition and have it guide your reading. It mostly shows up as doubt – an active doubt? – rather than an opaque sense of not having any feeling for things. Then that sometimes refines away from doubt into a sense of clarity towards some mechanism that's probably at play. Keeping absolutely humble towards it is suuuuuuper important, and it's always necessary to retain the perspective of oneself as limited and fallible. It's also very hard to get this stuff into words. Seems more nebulous and "cosmic" than it is. It's just how our minds and reading comprehension work. It's about feeding the pattern detection systems with... substrate? A handle on things? There are a few reasons why it works. "Works" as in is beneficial and useful to read, beyond just trusting doctors. (Do trust doctors!, –Jusr... help them help you. That's the thing.) One reason is that doctors do not have time to read, even if they'd very much want to. This is sort of force-multiplied?... with the personalization aspect: It is immensely valuable to read molecular biology from the personal perspective of operating and being inside a specific instance of that molecular biology machinery. The doctor's view is always more general (and is always a guardrail of safety, in part because of that). Then another reason is that there is SO MUCH actionable science out there. Just eminently safe and very, very actionable. It's so hard to get it across how it might be so, how it could possibly be, but it is. It really is.

Trasmatta 9mo ago

It's also very effective at helping reduce the damage of alcohol, if you take it before drinking. Lessens hangovers too.

n8henrie 9mo ago
Citation?
clankenfoot 9mo ago
Potentially dangerous to put this idea in others' heads without being more explicit about the role of timing and the risk of harm. A dual effect of N-acetylcysteine on acute ethanol-induced liver damage in mice - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16439183/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16439183/ > By contrast, post-treatment with NAC aggravated ethanol-induced hepatic lipid peroxidation and worsened acute ethanol-induced liver damage in a dose-dependent manner. Mice be warned!

Aurornis 9mo ago

NAC is in the category of supplements that sound unbelievably amazing on paper, but are frequently discontinued by people trying to take it long term. Some people seem to like it, but it’s common for people to take it for a while and realize it’s causing side effects like anhedonia, apathy, minor sleep disruptions, or other subtle negative effects. Not everyone, but it’s a common outcome. It also doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the incredible sounding papers for many conditions. It’s really common to find papers or even small trials purporting to find amazing effects from supplements that fail to replicate at scale. NAC does have some legitimate applications and is even used medically for certain conditions. I’m a little more skeptical that all of the amazing positives for every condition under the sun will hold up.

itchyouch 9mo ago
When considering NAC's mechanisms, it seems that it's efficacy is likely dependent on an individuals's glutathione status. I doubt that folks with a solid diet, high in sulfur would find much benefit from NAC. However, as someone who's gotten to use it first hand and have dealt with lifelong, mild inflammation (puffy fingers, clogged nose here and there), it's definitely been a huge quality of life enhancer.
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  > When considering NAC's mechanisms, it seems that it's efficacy is likely dependent on an individuals's glutathione status. NAC interacts with a lot of things. Not just glutathione. It modulates glutamate activity in the brain. That’s a key neurotransmitter. It’s why it can be helpful in some specific psychiatric conditions, but also why many people discovering it to be cognitively dulling or to induce blunt effect. It also interacts with trace minerals in your body. Taking it for a long time can reduce these levels, creating multiple secondary problems. The list of things it does goes on and on. It’s not a simple supplement for glutathione.

flowerthoughts 9mo ago

I can't find anything in the article about NAC or N-acetylcystein. What's the relevance?

spoaceman7777 9mo ago
The article is about improving the flow of lymph in the brain, and NAC thins mucous, lymph, and various other bodily fluids, which leads to improved flow and general clearance.
- clankenfoot 9mo ago
  Thins lymph? And other bodily fluids?

clankenfoot 9mo ago

Why uh.. why is this ludicrous threadjack the top comment?

thelastgallon 9mo ago

I used NAC supplement for 1 year and it changed my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEC3gH0GC8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEC3gH0GC8E