Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton
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 Chemicals and parkinson's Disease
To date there are many things known to trigger parkinson's, but out of all the known or suspected factors, exposure to toxic chemicals ranks as one of the highest. Not only has a previous exposure to toxic chemicals been found in those developing parkinson's disease at an earlier age, it also increases the risk of developing it at an older age. Chemical poisoning can produce many of the symptoms experienced by PD and can also trigger the disease itself. |
Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D.
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 In the past, and occasionally still today, I prescribed another drug that is usually used in the treatment of parkinson's disease, an illness in which fatigue is often prominent. Selegeline (Eldepryl) also appears to have a role in the treatment of fatigue that is unrelated to parkinson's. Selegeline is an MAO inhibitor, one of the class of drugs we discussed in chapter 5, but, at therapeutic doses of 5 mg twice a day, it doesn't have the toxic "cheese effect" I described there. Since it has no antidepressant action at all at these doses, it is not used in the treatment of depression. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 This supplement has a beneficial effect in protecting against parkinson's disease (a neural disease that can be caused by trauma, as in the case of boxers, or through viruses and genetics). As a potent antioxidant, it may help prevent inflammatory damage to the brain, but this remains unproven. The ideal dose is 100 milligrams twice a day (some research says that 300 milligrams four times a day is even better for parkinson's). |
David W. Grotto, RD, LDN
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 PARKINSON'S DISEASE: In a study of over one million people, caffeine consumption was associated with a reduced risk of parkinson's disease in men (but not in women).
HEART HEALTH: Though coffee consumption has been associated with hypertension and elevated homocysteine, one study that followed 41,836 postmenopausal women for fifteen years showed that coffee consumption reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory conditions.
LIVER PROTECTOR: In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by twenty percent. |
Hyla Cass
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 It contains two synthetic forms of the neurotransmitter dopamine (levodopa plus carbidopa), which declines dramatically in parkinson's sufferers. Without dopamine, muscles become progressively "frozen," and without the drug, he or she may not be able to move at all.
Action: In parkinson's, there is a loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. Levodopa supplies the missing dopamine, allowing movement to be restored to varying degrees. |
Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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 In a recent study, doses as high as 3,000 mg a day were found to be safe and tolerable in patients with parkinson's disease. According to Hathcock, et. al, the observed safe level (OSL) of coenzyme Qio for chronic administration as a dietary supplement is 1,200 mg a day. In a recent trial on the safety of coenzyme Qio in its reduced form as ubiquinol in human subjects, doses up to 300 mg daily for two months was found to be safe. Higher doses were not tested in this study. In the parkinson's study, the ubiquinone form of coenzyme Qi0 was used. |
Lynne McTaggart
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 The power of the placebo was best illustrated by a group of patients treated for parkinson's disease, a motor system disorder in which the body's system for releasing the brain chemical dopamine is faulty. The standard treatment for parkinson's is a synthetic form of dopamine. In a study at the University of British Columbia, a team of doctors demonstrated with PET scanning that when patients given placebos were told they had received dopamine, their brains substantially increased the release of their own stores of the chemical. |
James Dowd and Diane Stafford
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 The dysfunctional movements of parkinson's disease point to the source of the problem in an area at the base of the brain that coordinates movement. This region of the brain has a very high concentration of vitamin D receptors. Specialized cells in this area produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Destruction of these cells in parkinson's disease reduces the production of dopamine, which leads to the loss of coordinated movement. Intriguingly, dopamine can actually bind to the vitamin D receptor. |
| New studies show that vitamin D is important to proper brain development, and that a lack of this vitamin may be a contributing factor in causing schizophrenia, parkinson's disease, and depression. Calcium and magnesium deficiencies often accompany vitamin D deficiency and are associated with seizures in infants and degenerative neurological disorders such as parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease in adults. The good news is that vitamin D
?relieves the symptoms of seasonal depression;
?plays a critical role in slowing or preventing many types of arthritis;
? |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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| No specific research has been done to show that parkinson's drugs deplete CoQ10. We do know, however, that CoQ10 is low in PD patients. A study found that CoQ10 supplements slowed down the disease in patients with early-stage PD. The greatest benefit was found at a dose of 1,200 mg per day; less improvement was seen at 300 and 600 mg.
• Potassium: L-Dopa may cause an increased urinary loss of potassium in some parkinson's patients. Use the dose recommended in the multi-nutrient program on page 32, or more if your doctor recommends it.
• Vitamin B6: 50 mg daily. |
Melody Petersen
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 A group of researchers found that some doctors in New Jersey appeared to be misdiagnosing parkinson's disease in patients who began to suffer from irrepressible tremors after taking a drug called Reglan. The drug, which is prescribed for gastrointestinal reflux disorders and to prevent nausea after surgery, is just one of many medicines known for causing such tremors. But rather than stop the patients' doses of Reglan, the physicians added a prescription for levodopa, a medicine for parkinson's disease. |
Dr. Timothy Scott
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 When those patients stop taking the antidepressant, the tremors and other parkinson's disease symptoms also diminish. And it is, at least, suggestive that parkinson's disease causes brain shrinkage,25 and brain shrinkage also occurs in those on antidepressants.26 Someone who is knowledgeable might object to these suggestions and point out that parkinson's disease is associated with a loss of dopamine in the striatum part of the brain and that antidepressants are supposed to alter serotonin levels, not dopamine levels. They would be right. |
| It concerns me that parkinson's patients who take an antidepressant immediately develop more severe symptoms.24 When those patients stop taking the antidepressant, the tremors and other parkinson's disease symptoms also diminish. And it is, at least, suggestive that parkinson's disease causes brain shrinkage,25 and brain shrinkage also occurs in those on antidepressants. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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| Action: In parkinson's, there is a loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. Levodopa supplies the missing dopamine, allowing movement to be restored to varying degrees.
Side effects: L-Dopa greatly prolongs survival in people with PD, but that comes with liabilities, including the characteristic "thrashing" you might have seen in the now-infamous political ad with parkinson's patient Michael J. Fox. This side effect is called dyskinesia. Other side effects include nausea, vomiting, heart rhythm disturbances, restlessness, and confusion. |
Mark Sircus
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 Evidence is mounting that deficient levels of magnesium contribute to the heavy metal deposition in the brain that precedes parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.
Many of the symptoms of parkinson's disease can be overcome with high magnesium supplementation. In a trial with thirty epileptics, 450 mg of magnesium supplied daily successfully controlled seizures. Another study found that the lower the magnesium blood levels the more severe was the epilepsy.
Magnesium works best in combination with vitamin B. and zinc. |
| Sam Patterson
Experience Speaks for Itself
Issue: parkinson's disease
I have completed my first day of magnesium oil therapy on William who has had parkinson's for over 20 years. I am hoping for a revival of functionality but not with high expectations because of the severity and duration of his symptoms.
His condition before starting the magnesium oil was: He couldn't talk at all. Could not articulate whatsoever! He was barely functional and did nothing voluntarily. No exercise and no attempt to stop drooling. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Most of the patients had one or more chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or kidney failure. Others were at high risk of developing heart disease. When all 19 studies were combined, the risk of what is called all-cause mortality, or death due to any cause, did not differ significantly between people assigned to vitamin E supplementation and those who were in the placebo group. |
Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN
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| Antacids containing
• Calcium channel blockers aluminum
• Decongestants
• Anticonvulsants
• Diuretics
• Antidepressants
• Iron supplements (synthetic)
• Anti-diarrheal agents
• Muscle relaxers
• Antihistamines
• Narcotics (pain relievers)
• Anti-inflammatory agents
• parkinson's Disease drugs
• Antipsychotics
• Sedatives
• Antispasmodics
• Tranquilizers
• Beta blockers
219 n x complaint from people taking certain medications. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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 Effects of Coenzyme Q10 in early parkinson's disease: Evidence of slowing of functional decline. Arch Neurol. 2002;59(io):i54i-i550.
ARTHRITIS
Prevalence
The 2000 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) established that arthritis and other rheumatoid conditions affected approximately one Canadian in six. Two-thirds of those suffering from arthritis were women, and nearly three out of five of those suffering from it were younger than 65 years old.1 In the United States, arthritis and other rheumatic conditions are costing approximately $128 billion annually, about 1. |
| This discovery supported the hypothesis that, in parkinson's disease, not enough dopamine was available to the brain. L-dopa, of course, increased the amount of this amine. Unfortunately, this was a mixed blessing because patients on L-dopa could easily become psychotic and have reduced life expectancy if too much was prescribed. Adrenal gland grafts can also trigger psychosis. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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| Side effects: L-Dopa greatly prolongs survival in people with PD, but that comes with liabilities, including the characteristic "thrashing" you might have seen in the now-infamous political ad with parkinson's patient Michael J. Fox. This side effect is called dyskinesia. Other side effects include nausea, vomiting, heart rhythm disturbances, restlessness, and confusion.
Nutrients depleted: Potassium, SAMe, and vitamin B6. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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| Birkmayer and coworkers found that both oral and parenteral NADH were equally effective in parkinson's disease/ They treated
885 patients with one or other of these methods and found that only about 20% did not benefit. Younger patients, who had not been symptomatic as long, responded better. To avoid damage in the stomach, their oral preparation had to be stabilized. NADH in ordinary gelatin capsules was not effective, as had been found with NAD when treating schizophrenic patients. |
| As described in Medical Hypotheses,6 three measures must be addressed when treating parkinson's disease:
• Deal with oxidative stress (decreasing it where possible) by using natural anti-oxidants
• Give natural methyl acceptors (the most readily available of which is vitamin B-3)
• Use high dose anti-oxidants to mitigate the adverse toxic effects of L-dopa
Clinical Evidence n 1993,1.G.D. |
| Role of Vitamin B-3
Dr Hoffer has discovered that high doses of niacin are very helpful in preventing parkinson's psychosis. His use of this vitamin is based on the adrenochrome hypothesis of schizophrenia, described previously. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 Schults CW, Oakes D, Kieburtz K et al: Effects of coenzyme Q10 in early parkinson's disease: evidence of slowing the functional decline. Arch Neurol; 59:1541-1550. 2002
Shults CW, Beal MF, Fontaine D et al: Absorption, tolerability, and effects on mitochondrial activity of oral coenzyme Q10 in parkinsonian patients. Neurology; 50:793-795. 1998
Soja AM, Mortensen SA: Treatment of congestive heart failure with coenzyme Q10 illuminated by meta-analyses of clinical trials. Mol Aspects Med; 18(suppl):S159-S168. |
Charles Barber
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 CNS diseases, which include Alzheimer's and parkinson's as well as psychiatric diseases, are, well, hot. They represent dream marketing opportunities for drug makers, for a number of reasons. Psychiatric and neurological diseases tend to be chronic, meaning that those who truly suffer from them will, or should, take the medications for the rest of their lives. |
Dr. Arthur Janov
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 Later in life, this can spell serious afflictions, not the least of which may be Alzheimer's or parkinson's disease.
There is new evidence for my position: A report in Science News (2005) that very early stress in animals can be "brain-altering and memory sapping."14 The implication is that early trauma can lead to serious memory loss later in life, and implicates the hippocampus in the problem. Based on our clinical experience with humans, it is not a stretch to apply these findings to our fellow human beings. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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| Other medicines are needed by people with chronic conditions such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, or parkinson's disease. Oral contraceptives or estrogen replacement therapy may be a necessary part of pregnancy prevention or dealing with menopause. Cancer chemotherapy is a grim, but potentially life-saving, reality for some. And even healthy people sometimes come down with infections that require antibiotic treatment.
This chapter will give you an overview of the depletions you can expect with these medications and how to supplement them. |
| Potassium: L-Dopa may cause an increased urinary loss of potassium in some parkinson's patients. Use the dose recommended in the multi-nutrient program on page 32, or more if your doctor recommends it.
• Vitamin B6: 50 mg daily. This vitamin may accelerate the metabolism of levodopa, but this can be overcome by adding carbidopa (Sinemet).
METHOTREXATE
The toxic, powerful drug methotrexate (Folex PFS, Rheumatrex, Trexall) is used for cancer chemotherapy and to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. |
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