Dr. Saunders Parkinson’s Protection Plan

At age 68 Sally was living alone, and enjoying it.  She had two daughters who lived nearby and she loved to visit her grandchildren.  Her daughter brought her into my office because she had developed a tremor in her lip and left hand, difficulty walking, problems sleeping and stiffness of the muscles.  She was worried that she would no longer be able to live in her apartment where she enjoyed the environment and her friends.

Parkinson’s is not really a disease, it’s a syndrome, or a collection of symptoms.  It happens when there is not enough dopamine being created in the brain, and can have many causes.  Generally it is due to toxic insults to the brain, but Parkinson’s can be caused by hardening of the arteries, inflammation, or even genes.

Sally had most of the symptoms typical of Parkinson’s disease

The diagnosis is made by symptoms.  It is not an exact science, so the typical Parkinson’s symptoms is all that is necessary.  These include:

• Stiffness in the muscles
• Tremors, usually only while resting.  If the tremor happens while using the muscle it is more often a different problem.
• Flat affect, or lack of emotion in the face due to lack of facial muscle tone
• Difficulty getting started, as in walking, but once started continuing is easier
• Shuffling gait
• Sleep problems
• Dementia

Parkinson’s is not deadly, but rather a progressively disabling problem.  It can have either rapid or slow progression, depending on the cause.

“How did I get Parkinson’s disease?”

Sally is active, thin, she eats well, and takes care of herself.  Her daughter works in a vitamin store and makes sure she gets her vitamins.  She was curious as to how she could come down with such an illness.  One of the problems is that it often takes some investigation to find the Parkinson’s cause because there are so many.  Moreover, there may be multiple factors such as genetics, toxins, and a lack of nutrients.  Any one of them may not have produced Parkinson’s symptoms, but the three together do.

Genetics

Although the large majority of cases are not genetic, there are clearly some known genes that pre-dispose to Parkinson’s.

Environmental toxins

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  Carbon disulfide, and organophosphate pesticides
• Manganese – an essential mineral that becomes toxic in large amounts
• Heavy metals such as lead and mercury damage neurons
• Carbon monoxide prevents oxygen from getting to the brain
• Medications such as antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia, paranoia, sleep disorders, and depression
• Parkinson’s medications including L-dopa cause oxidation and damage the Substantia Nigra in the brain, causing progression of the disease
• MPTP, a heroin contaminant that may be found in street drugs

Atherosclerosis and stroke

If a stroke causes damage to the areas of the brain that co-ordinate activity, then symptoms of Parkinson’s disease may result.

Inflammation

Some of the toxins produce oxidative stress, but other sources of inflammation may also produce Parkinson’s symptoms.  General metabolism, or the normal production of energy in the nerve cells, produces oxygen free-radicals so a lack of anti-oxidants may lead to brain cell damage.

Deficiencies

Vitamins and minerals protect the brain from harm by blocking free-radical production, and allowing normal energy flow.  When there isn’t enough, there may be either damage directly to neurons, or indirectly by allowing toxins to cause more damage.

Because there are so many different causes of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and the treatment is substantially different for each, it is imperative to know the cause before seeking treatment.

“How can I treat it?”

Sally is most concerned about two things: 1. Her independence – she doesn’t want to be dependent on her daughters to take care of her, and 2. Dementia, not being able to remember or think clearly.  She wants to make sure she can at least stop the illness from progressing to that point, if not actually reverse it.

The usual treatment for this illness is to try to calm the symptoms of stiffness and tremor by either increasing the available dopamine with L-Dopa pills, or stimulating dopamine receptors with other drugs.  Also, now there are surgical treatments including either implants to stimulate the areas that lack, or to replace the cells that make the dopamine.

The problem with the common treatments are that they don’t address the cause of the symptoms.  Many of these treatments actually damage the “substantia nigra” in the brain where dopamine is produced, causing worsening of the disease, even as they give temporary relief of the symptoms.

Testing in Sally found none of the known problems that can cause Parkinson’s symptoms so she was given a series of injections of glutathione, the primary anti-oxidant in the brain.  If the disease is caused by toxins, such as pesticides, or just oxidative stress, glutathione will stop it or reverse it.  Some cases are so dramatic that people who couldn’t walk on the way in to the office get a shot of glutathione and get up and walk out normally.  This is a natural anti-oxidant that is best given by intravenous infusion.

She was also put on a preventative diet program, along with supplements.

“How can I prevent it?”

Now, the daughter is concerned that she might be more susceptible to the illness so she wanted to know if she should make the dietary changes and take the supplements to prevent her from getting this disease.  Of course, again, it depends on the cause of Parkinson’s, but the general concepts are good for preventing brain degeneration in general so I recommended it.

Diet: High in anti-oxidants, low in pesticides. 

Buy organic.  Studies have shown a significant lessening of pesticide residues in the urine of those who eat organic foods. (2)

Use colors.  The coloring of fruit and vegetables produces the most anti-oxidant capacity.  Greens are the most important not only for their anti-oxidant capacity, but also because they help the body excrete heavy metals.  Cilantro (coriander) is especially good for getting rid of mercury from the body.

Eat meat.  Liver and steak contain alpha lipoic acid (ALA) which regenerates glutathione.  Meats also contain amino acids such as cysteine that is required for glutathione production.  Use only organic grass-fed beef because it contains the right amount of omega-3 fats.  Fish is also good for the same reasons, but it must be wild-caught, not farmed, and free of mercury.  For those who don’t eat meat a great supplement is nutritional yeast, or brewer’s yeast (which is an excellent supplement for anyone).

Avoid processed carbohydrates.  These can lead to hardening of the arteries and inflammation. Sugars and starches also prevent us from using fat for energy.

Eat fat.  Burning fat, like coconut oil, was found to reverse Alzheimer’s disease in rats who were not given carbs to eat. (1)   Also, for over a century an extremely low carbohydrate diet, the ketogenic diet, has been used to cure epilepsy in children.  The ketone bodies made from fat help repair neurons in the brain.

Supplements: Decrease oxygen free-radicals in the brain.

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  Selenium is part of glutathione peroxidase, and enzyme that re-generates glutathione.
• N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is most often the bottleneck in the production of glutathione in the liver.
• Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) helps regenerate glutathione.
• Vitamin C also regenerates glutathione and should be taken on an intermittent basis, perhaps weekly, so as not to inhibit another important anti-oxidant, SOD.
• B-complex with activated B-6 (P5P) to turn homocysteine, a waste amino acid, into cysteine.

“I’m still going!”

Nine years later on the program outlined above, Sally is still independent and enjoying her life.  Because of a small amount of progression her neurologist gave her some carbidopa/levodopa to stop the tremor.  She now walks with a cane and is a little slower, but she uses the public transportation system and is able to take care of all her needs.  She comes in to the office for a monthly dose of IV glutathione to prevent damage from the medications.

 DOSING SCHEDULE:

• Selenium – 200 mcg per day for 90 days, then one per week.
• NAC – 1000 mg per day on an empty stomach
• ALA – 300 mg per day
• Vitamin C – 5,000 mg once per week
• B-complex – one per day
• Extra-virgin coconut oil – 3 TBS per day
• Brewer’s yeast – 3 TBS per day

Parkinson’s disease is a collection of illnesses that may have multiple causes, though they share the same symptoms.  Thus, it is imperative that one who has Parkinson’s symptoms addresses the cause of the illness before any treatment is initiated to prevent progression of disease.  This is one illness that may require the assistance of a doctor who knows about finding a Parkinson’s cause, as well as how to diagnose disorders of the nervous system.

By taking charge of your life, working with your doctors and naturopaths to find the natural treatment that suit you best, you can continue to do all the things in life that you enjoy.

What supplements do you take for treating Parkinson’s?

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(1)http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/13/can-this-natural-food-cure-or-prevent-alzheimers.aspx
(2)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1367841/