Simon on macuna bean

[parkie13]

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

[MBAnderson]

thanks for the link. Important article.

The take away.

Simon says,

"Can I take my prescribed L-dopa treatment AND mucuna pruriens?

Ok, so this is where I have to be careful. I could get myself in trouble here as I am not a clinician, and I should not be giving any advice on this site. In addition, there is very little research addressing this question (certainly no long term studies). So, with that said: If I had PD I would definitely NOT be supplementing my normal L-dopa treatment regime with any supplements that contain mucuna pruriens extract (certainly not without discussing it with my clinician first).

This is for one simple reason: high levels of L-dopa (in the lab at least) does bring on abnormal involuntary movements (or dyskinesias) a lot quicker than low levels of L-dopa.

Supplementation of normal L-dopa treatment regimes with mucuna pruriens could significantly increase the level of L-dopa that the body is receiving, raising the risk of developing side effects like dyskinesias. While the short term benefits may be pleasing, the long term picture could be more troublesome as a result of this approach.

To be fair, this is simply speculation as we have no idea what the combination of the two treatments will do. But it is better to be safe than sorry."