4 Supplements that Naturally Protect Neurons

If you’re like me, when you think of Parkinson’s disease, then you automatically think of poster-boy Michael J. Fox. Mr. Fox bravely stepped away from his acting career 13 years ago because his symptoms were inhibiting his acting abilities. He then stepped directly into raising awareness about this debilitating disease. Because Michael J. Fox shined a light on Parkinson’s disease (PD), millions of people across the world who suffer with this disease have benefitted from an increase in both research and public awareness. Unfortunately to date, PD has no cure.

Parkinson’s disease is neurological disease that manifest with:

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  Trembling
• Rigid, stiff limbs
• Reduced facial expressions
• Slurred speech
• A shuffle-like walk
• Frozen episodes or inability to move

Parkinson’s can eventually lead to dementia, speech problems, depression, and sexual difficulties. It typically has a gradual onset and begins on one side of the body. You may notice a small twitch in the hand in the very beginning stages. Like dementia, it is a disease of the central nervous system. Nerve cells in the brain begin to stop producing dopamine, an important chemical that regulates movement in the body.

Parkinson’s can be classified into 3 stages:

Mild:

• A tremor may occur on one side of the body
• Friends or family may notice a change in facial expression, posture, or walking
• Exercising regularly can reduce Parkinson’s symptoms
• Parkinson’s medications can work quite well in this stage

Moderate:

• Both sides of the body are affected
• Episodes of feeling frozen occur
• Balance and coordination are affected
• Parkinson’s medications can begin to result in side-effects
• Parkinson’s medications may wear off and be less effective
• Regular exercise still improves symptoms

Advanced:

• Cognitive issues like hallucinations and delusions occur
• Great difficulty walking, primarily confined to a wheelchair
• Inability to live alone
• Balancing medications correctly is difficult and side-effects increase

Many people can remain in the mild to moderate stages of Parkinson’s for years. Until a cure is found, keeping the symptoms controlled is the primary goal. There are around 10 pharmaceutical drugs on the market for Parkinson’s treatment. Unfortunately, they have side-effects like hallucinations, delusions, and inability to control muscles, low blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, gastrointestinal bleeding, anxiety, vomiting, hair loss, trouble breathing and impulsive behavior. This is typical of pharmaceutical medicine, which only adds to the toxic burden and increases nutritional deficiencies.

Luckily, there have also been breakthroughs in the area of natural health and nutrition in treating Parkinson’s. Many people have seen successful results combining these natural alternatives with their prescribed medications.

In this article, I am going to highlight what I believe are 4 of the best natural supplements in both the treatment and prevention of Parkinson’s disease. These supplements, unlike pharmaceutical drugs, don’t cause horrible side-effects.

Instead, these supplements work with your body to protect nerve cells in the brain. In this case, I am not advocating going off pharmaceutical drugs for Parkinson’s. However, I recommend working with your doctor to add these beneficial supplements to your regime.

Vitamin D

The first thing I would recommend for the prevention or treatment of PD is