A dietary supplement containing a blend of thirty vitamins and minerals—all natural ingredients widely available in health food stores—has shown remarkable anti-aging properties that can prevent and even reverse massive brain cell loss, according to new research from McMaster University.
It’s a mixture scientists believe could someday slow the progress of catastrophic neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, ALS and Parkinson’s
You have already been proven wrong - NAC, a readily available OTC supplement, has been shown to improve the underlying condition. journals.plos.org/plosone/a...
The investigators are being very conservative in their headlines. If you read the study you will see that they got stat sig results:
"The change observed between the NAC group was significant with a p = 0.01 and was also significantly different from controls (p = 0.045). The model also implies that serotonin transporter binding is decreasing with age by 0.008 per year (95%CI: 0.0002, 0.016), consistent with prior studies.
Importantly, there was a significant correlation observed between the change in UPDRS scores and the change in dopamine transporter binding in the caudate (Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.45, CI: -0.73, -0.05, p = 0.026) and putamen (Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.54, CI: -0.78, -0.17, p = 0.006)."
Those are excellent p values, all the more so because this was intended as a preliminary study,
I find it almost frustrating that people won't just give the NAC a try. It is cheap and really harmless, so there isn't much to lose. It has made a significant difference to me in the early stages of PD, both physically and particularly mentally.
I guess there is a valid cynicism amongst us, with so many different suggestions and supplements etc. and so many opportunists praying on our vulnerability.
Having read too many med journal articles for my own peace of mind, I have found that study titles can be misleading, and even abstracts can be misleading. In the case of the NAC study we have a controlled study with a stat sig result. The emphasis expressed upthread on the understated claims in the title would be misleading to a reader unfamiliar with the details and it is important to set that straight. By contrast, the nilotinib study had no controls. The authors of that study made no claims as to effectiveness. The placebo effect is notorious in PD because positive expectations prompt release of dopamine, so the placebo effect is therapeutic which makes controls necessary.
As it happens NAC cured an entirely different long standing problem so personally it's a big win. If someone else declines to take it that's ok.
Seems the bear may be ready for his winter hibernation. Perhaps we can blame the onset of seasonal brain fog for his inability to distinguish between the ability to "replace lost dopamine producing cells" and an OTC supp that indicates an ability to "improve the underlying condition".
MrGadget is NOT wrong. At present, only stem cell therapies demonstrate the ability to replace lost DA neurons (dopamine producing). NAC, on the other hand, falls into the category of "neuroprotective" and has no such ability. It is merely a precursor to the critical antioxidant glutathione which - purportedly - serves to minimize toxic oxidative stress and possibly protect against misbehaving alpha-synuclein proteins. It does not replace any missing neurons.
Zzzzzz… snort… hmpf…. Wha? …oh…. Ok…..if you put it that way……still, I’ll take the stat sig improvement demonstrated in the controlled study……..hmpf.... snork.......zzzzzzz
Hah! I agree on that. Until the IP stem cell therapy which will replenish our lost DA neurons makes it through the pre-IND FDA process, NAC remains an important mainstay in my supplement routine. Sweet dreemzzzzzz.
IP stem cell therapy is not a cure all for PD without drugs/nutraceuticals to dissolve/unfold Lewy bodies/alpha synuclein.
In the following article:
Alpha-synuclein spreading in Parkinson’s disease
"Of particular importance, it was the seminal observation of Lewy bodies (LB), a histopathological signature of PD, in grafted fetal dopaminergic neurons in the striatum of PD patients."
So fetal dopaminergic neurons were transplanted into PD patients brains and Lewy bodies spread from existing disease tissue.
In a response in this thread I mentioned NAC and black tea extract, both of which can unfold/dissolve Lewy bodies.
Black tea theaflavins inhibit formation of toxic amyloid-β and α-synuclein fibrils.
"Here, we show that theaflavins (TF1, TF2a, TF2b, and TF3), the main polyphenolic components found in fermented black tea, are potent inhibitors of amyloid-β (Aβ) and α-synuclein (αS) fibrillogenesis."
Previously I posted an article that BTE has neuroprotective and neurorescue properties. Also, in a Singapore study BTE had an inverse relationship to PD by 71%. Drinking 6 cups of black tea decreased the risks of PD by 71%:
In India, drugs are derived from substances consumed by the common person and are found to have pharmacological properties like tumeric/curcumin. BTE, around the globe, is being investigated by researchers as a PD drug.
Chemical properties of green tea is well known. Black tea was green tea - same plant, which was oxidized through fermentation by bacteria so it has a different chemical composition. BTE chemicals are so complex they are just starting to be understood. In a 2010 study I read the chemical structures of BTE were just starting to be unlocked.
Many other natural substances, NAC - methamphetamine, magnesium - iron induced, EGCG......have been shown to break down alpha synuclein/Lewy bodies.
As for standard PD medication, Entacapone has been shown to break down alpha synuclein:
Entacapone and tolcapone, two catechol O-methyltransferase inhibitors, block fibril formation of alpha-synuclein and beta-amyloid and protect against amyloid-induced toxicity.
"This study reveals a potentially new avenue for managing Parkinson's patients and shows that n-acetylcysteine may have a unique physiological effect that alters the disease process and enables dopamine neurons to recover some function,"
Comparison of neuroprotective and neurorestorative capabilities of rasagiline and selegiline against lactacystin-induced nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration
"...but only rasagiline managed to restore the nigrostriatal degeneration."
Neuroprotective and neuro rescue effect of black tea extract in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat model of Parkinson's disease
"Results suggest that BTE exerts both neuroprotective and neurorescue effects against 6-OHDA-induced degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, suggesting that possibly daily intake of BTE may slow down the PD progression as well as delay the onset of neurodegenerative processes in PD."
Although there was no link to the original publication and I know nothing about the standard and focus of research at this university, I suspect this is a headline grabbing article that the researchers themselves would be mildly surprised at.
The work was carried out in mice (which do not get Parkinson's naturally) and no mention was made of Parkinson's. They equated normal aging processes those the genetically modified mice. No comment was made of the reversal of plaques, tangle and Lewy Bodies which are involved in the 'diseases of aging' such as Parkinson's and AD.
When a report begins by claiming a vague combo of supplements x, y, and/or z "may" reverse a given disease, then concludes by stating that confirmation of their notions will require a couple more years before the testing of their magic concoction can even begin, you may rest assured that you are witnessing a troop of bonobos chasing their tails (and bonobos don't have tails to chase).
Hint: The report states that the formula "contains common ingredients such as vitamins B, C and D, folic acid, green tea extract, cod liver oil and other nutraceuticals..."
The efficacy of any single one of these continues to be subject to debate - waiting around for a combination of 30 such ingredients to "reverse" PD (or to be proven of any value whatsoever) "may" require more lifetimes than all of ours combined.
This product was a recommendation from microbiologist Amy Yasko who has written about methylation, a major body process that is often compromised in PWP and others with serious illness. This supplement is designed to stimulate methylation and was originally called 'neurological support'. The levels of nutrients in it are good and it doesn't contain iron (which cancels out some of the other ingredients if you take them together). Amy Yasko has written books on the subject. Much of her work is about autism because the issues of poor methylation can be similar.
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