What do you think about the cause(s) of your Parkinson’s disease?
+ Genetics
+ Exposure to heavy metals
+ Addiction
+ Post traumatic stress disorder
+ Environmental factors
+ medication (drug-induced parkinsonism)
Or anything else.
Please share your ideas and thoughts here.
definitely mercury poisoning from improperly removed amalgam fillings. i believe that most, if not all pd cases are caused by toxins (mercury, agent orange, etc). i think everyone is predisposed to something--- pd, heart ailments, digestive problems, cancer, whatever. and when we are exposed to these toxins, our particular illness rears its ugly head. mercury poisoning is a perfect example - my exposure caused pd to surface. someone else may have ms, or kidney disease. i think the genetics gives you the predisposition, but the toxins bring it to the surface.
Very good reply !! For me it just all started with a broken amalgam filling 3 years ago and the rest was replaced by a butcher-dentist. A DMPS-provocation test has showed a high amount of lead and mercury in urine (a kind of indication, what is in the brain.....)
The popular supplement NAC is a chelator for mercury and lead, if I remember correctly. This means it may slowly reduce the toxic levels of lead or mercury in your body. NAC is a popular Parkinson's supplement and if you google or search this forum enough, you'll find a fair number of people taking it for their Parkinson's.
but its really important that you DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHELATE MERCURY IF YOU HAVE MERCURY AMALGAM FILLINGS IN YOUR MOUTH!!! the mercury load will be too much for the chelator to handle, and the excess will go right to your brain. dmps/dmsa challange tests essentially do the same thing, which is why people feel worse after them. it is better to do a heavy metals test on hair or with a 24 hr urine sample. then get the amalgams removed by a biological dentist that will do them properly (dr huggins method, there is plenty of info on line about how this is done).
after that you can chelate. but in order to do it with the least amount of further damage, the method that andrew cutler recommends is the best. that is to take the chelator at regular intervals, every 3-4 hrs, depending on the chelator, around the clock (set alarms, whatever you have to do). the theory is that doses further apart, especially high doses once a day, will stir up the mercury, but wont be able to handle the load, and you will be left with excess mercury floating around. if the chelator is taken around the clock, you will always have a constant level in your system able to handle the mercury.
there is alot of info re andrew cutlers method on line, but i have include one link---
Continuous, heavy, anxiety since childhood, no feeling of safety, taking everything seriously, should have led to not needing/using dopamine, hence death of dopamine receivers and dopaminergic neurons.
Same!
I absolutely agree with you , that's what I was saying , constantly living in flight or flight messes are receptors
In dealing with this question is appropriate to recall that the current medical thinking is that the onset of Parkinson’s disease can occur decade(s) before there is any indication of PD symptoms. When one thinks of causation, we must accept the possibility that the damage may have been done long before we are thinking PD and it may be difficult to make conclusions regarding specific causes.
It is certainly likely that modern pollutants contribute to Parkinson’s disease in many cases. But we must also consider the fact Parkinson’s disease is been around probably for thousands of years long before modern stresses were plaguing mankind.
When I was young, I spent many hours on the football field and had my “bell rung” several times each year. My doctors at Mayo Clinic have stated that it is highly likely that playing that aggressive contact sport as a teen, certainly could have contributed to my current situation, even though I never had a concussion.
However, I am intrigued by recent article in ScienceDirect:
Parkinson's disease; the hibernating spore hypothesis - ScienceDirect
The authors identify spores from moldy hay as a possible causative factor for PD. I have also had that exposure. My daughters had horses and we were careful not to feed them moldy hay, since moldy hay can cause an allergic reaction in horses, affectionately known as “Rhino Snots”. So dad took the moldy hay and put it through a grinder for the compost pile. In the process, lots of mold dust was inhaled. Interesting speculation, but hard to trace.
So also are the causes of cancer in many cases, and scientists have done brilliant detective work in cancer research to identify carcinogens. We can hope that as they identify possible causative factors for PD, they will also develop research techniques to indict the most likely culprits.
An old joke in the Southwest: “It looks like rain. I sure hope so, not so much for me as for my boy. I’ve seen it rain.” In the present context “I sure hope so.”
I completely agree with you. I think it's some kind of a causative agent that produces Parkinson. I also have been exposed to moldy hay. However again not to discount my many falls on my head starting with falling off a slide completely flat on my back and my head when I was about 4 years old. Since then I've had many falls on ice. Except for my last fall I never got a concussion, the last one I think I did because they're couple hours after I don't remember anything. Could you put a link for the hay article? couple years ago Silvestrov send me the link but I don't have it anymore Thank you Mary
I'm blown away what you just wrote, I grew up in the country was always around horses and even have three now. I have had to deal with a lot of moldy hay through my life . Wow ! Thank you for letting me know about that
Hi Fwes:
With regard to "Parkinson's disease; the hibernating spore hypothesis" – ScienceDirect, a related (Sept 2017) and more direct peer-reviewed article, entitled "What James Parkinson Really Thought was Behind Parkinson’s Disease" can be found here at the Scientia Ricerca Website:
scientiaricerca.com/srcons/...
"Indirect evidence exists in that tuberculosis and Parkinson’s disease are linked by a unique protein. That protein, named “Parkin”, already is the focus of intense investigation in Parkinson’s disease, in which its malfunction is associated with a loss of nerve cells. But Parkin also acts on tuberculosis, triggering destruction of the bacteria by immune cells known as macrophages. This lends itself to the possibility that malfunctioning Parkin can lead to a loss of nerve cells through the inability to destroy tubercular mycobacteria in the macrophage. [19]"
knowledgeofhealth.com/cows-...
And you want to be scared just read the above two links.
Both of the links are showing that there is nothing there.
The articles are there, you will have to do a Google Search and put in Bill Sardi cow's milk and tuberculosis. The first two links that come up are the ones that I posted above.
My current theory is that it's caused by too much ammonia that isn't removed due to gut issues (constipation and poor gut bacteria), liver function issues, eating too much protein or having Rhesus negative blood.
It kind of fits with some of the current theories!
You might be right! Ammonia is a neurotoxin and is produced by Borrelia Burgdoferi (Lyme bug) among few other ways - weakened certain metabolic pathways, like Urea cycle (if they have genetic variants) as well as digestive issues. Interesting enough a number of PWPs have Lyme and many more may not be even aware of it since it is very difficult to diagnose.
Researchers in US are leaning more and more towards environmental pollutants being the primary cause of PD. I know in my particular case I can point to at least 4 different chemicals I worked with that are on an "increased incidence" list.
Insidious Genetics
I think it is mostly all in a person's physical makeup. In some extreme cases it can be due to exposure to chemicals, for the rest of us we fail to clear away the excess alpha synuclein.
People worry about fillings, bumps on the head, stress, etc, but they would have got it anyway.There are olympic gold medalists (runner John Walker) who got pd at 42. Stop worrying about what you did, the good news is most of us were stuffed from the start!
TMJ/extensive dental work
Head injury
Recreational drug use (not necessarily addiction)
Plus all others mentioned.
Hereditary is a big factor for me, both my mother and her brother have it.
Genetic most likely as father had PD
Chemotherapy
Genetics Plus following catalysts anxiety, job stress or stressful situations for long time
Genetics, exposure to heavy metals, anxiety since childhood - triple whammy!
I live in the San Joaquin valley in central California. I am pretty sure the cause of my PD is environmental.
Growing up with all the toxic spraying. We used to think the crop dusters were so much fun to watch. Little did we know!
Since PD doesn't run in my family, I'm convinced it was the mercury in my fillings (16 were replaced in 2010). I even asked the dentist when he put the first one in if it had mercury in it and he flat lied to me saying they didn't use that kind any more. If it's silver, there''s mercury in it. And from the time I was 14 till I graduated college, I worked the summers in the cornfields running detasselling crews, rogueing, and walking bean fields. Who knows what pesticides and chenicals I was exposed to there.
What about fruit consumption? I was a big apple and peaches eater, non-organic. I ate about 4 a day and they are contaminated with pesticides. The doctors I saw did not agree.
I believe my Pd was triggered by a succession of bereavements and post traumatic stress from a young age. I feel I have been in fight,flight or freeze mode and that my body has had a constant chemical response which has damaged my nuerons.
Agree
I wonder if there is any research on psycological distress/trauma and PD.
Presently, I am in the process of being genetically tested. I believe my maternal grandmother had PD, that developed into Lewy Body dementia in her later years. Also, I worked in an industry that has heavy metals exposure, for many years. I did wear a respirator to sift out some of the bad stuff, but it may not have done a good enough job. Also, I’ve had several serious concussions over the years, where I lost consciousness, so that may have contributed to the neuro- degeneration that I’m experiencing now. It’s like a triple whammy, so I’m way past the beginning stages of PD and have symptoms on both sides of my body, resting and essential tremors, several autonomic system symptoms etc., stiffness, freezing episodes, falling. Each day is different. Rarely do I have a “good” day, but when I do I enjoy it as best I can.
My so called Parkinson's is due to long term Stress/Anxiety and long term use of Tranquilizers and Opiates!!
I also live my whole life and fight or flight, lots of trauma and abuse. Big-time stress and anxiety and 40 years of using opiates and tranquilizers and who knows what else .
You're the first person I've heard of that had long term opiate use like me. My doctor says that has nothing to do with my Parkinson's and logically it makes sense that it would because it affects your dopamine, what does your doctor say about your theory?
My brother, 68, may have PD. He has been addicted to one thing or another his whole adult life. He has also been a Union Iron Worker his whole adult life. That means constant exposure to metals gases on the construction site up until 9 yrs ago when he had to retire due to injury. The tremors started about 4 yrs ago. There is NO PD HISTORY in our family.
But having him live with us for the last 8 mos I can now see that anxiety/fear is the root of his addiction. So I can see the interesting combination of these things being a factor. Thank you all for sharing.
Nobody in my family has Parkinson's ?
I think I got it around 45 .
I did have addiction issues and used drugs most my life -
My doctor keeps insisting that all the drug abuse had nothing to do with getting Parkinson's .
He says if that was the case then more drug addicts would have it.
There was some batcher of heroin that gave people Parkinson's but you immediately got full symptoms and then it stayed the same , never progressing -
No matter what the doctor says though, I can't help but think that drugs play a part as I started at 12 and got into recovery 49 so most life used-
Drugs give you dopamine, that's why people like drugs, at first because it makes you feel good. That is before it destroys your life -
This is my theory , I believe I had a predisposition to get Parkinson's & had I not used drugs I would of got Parkinson's when I was older , maybe 70s.
I think that the drug use brought it on sooner as 45 is young .
Also I do think all my abuse contributed to speeding it up as I lived my life in fight or flight -
Then last but not least I got my head bashed in a lot , my ex - boyfriend use to beat me with a flash light on my head and I have had many concussions.
A couple years before I got symptoms I had a accident and hit head , real bad -
That's my beliefs , the only thing that my doctor agrees could be a factor is head injures.
This is just my opinion.
It's intrinsic in human nature to want to make sense of things. I have my own theory of why I have PD, but I'm also keenly aware that I don't know anything for sure.
In those cases where many different things give the same disease, a couple of things are clear. 1) That does not know the cause of the PD and everyone should say it clearly.
2) In my opinion, the body is like a room with an open door from which everything enters and damages the cells (so many apparent causes).
There is a lack of fundamental knowledge, which could also be simple once discovered and which will solve all similar neurodegenerative diseases, as has already happened for other diseases.
The cause is going to be found, one of these days. Just very recently they have found the cause of the flaccid paralysis in the young kids, some of the kids recover some of the kids don't oh, it was a virus. I repeat it was a virus! And that's what I think PD is going to end up with as the causative agent. So, following all the research we can see but nobody is looking for a virus, as far as I'm concerned they're all barking up the wrong tree.
So many possible causes! Cant narrow it down to one single thing sometimes, and yet in some cases you can. Mine came on suddenly 5 years ago when I was under extreme stress for a prolonged period of time, but I think that for me, that was just the straw that broke my camel's back. I look back and think of all the factors that contributed to it over the past 25 years -
working with x-rays
12 years of well water ingestion
roundup exposure
pesticide exposure
mercury toxicity ( I ate one or two cans of tuna every day for a few years, ironically because I thought the fish oil would help with brain fog!)
experimenting with hallucinogenics a few times in my early 20's
very poor sleep since my kids were born for 4 years, plus when Im on call for emergencies at the hospital I dont sleep well.
Spinal stenosis in the Lumbar region may have contributed to PD (?) due to poor posture and improper flow of CSF, but thats a stretch Im sure
Growing up DDT used almost as a talcum powder. Being on well water for decades. Being exposed to mold on Hay also in the water. Having Lyme disease with a Co infection. Had some raw milk products at different times. So I guess I can take my pick. As of now I have no Gene for Parkinson's Disease.
I heard a talk on Glutathione where the speaker, an MD, was saying that raw milk contains a large amount of Cysteine, a major precursor to Glutathione. No match for the DDT and Lyme Disease I guess. : (
Stress (related to job or relationship etc) and unhealthy life style, genetics
No Parkinson's history in family.
Grandpa died 112 years of age and had nothing.
I've been a construction worker all my life. Many years working in a refinery going in furnaces, boilers, tanks, exposed to toxic metals and dusts.
Heavy use of crack cocaine and heroin which I stopped about eight years ago and that is when I recall the start of some symptoms which I didn't know we're connected, like lost sense of smell, some almost unnoticeable tremors, bradykinesea etc.
Tremors got really bad, early 2015 and was diagnosed sometime 2017, but doctors don't connect it with drug use. I definitely think the drugs are the main cause in my case.
Emotional impact of PD
Purely out of interest, what do others think causes PD?
PD Warrior out of Australia
