After reading and posting on this site for over a year I realize that there is a vast difference in underlying knowledge so if my opening comments are old news my apologies.
First, people should understand that none of the medicines available for PwP today treat the underlying causes of PD. They all treat symptoms. Next people should know that many, if not most, of the "alternative therapies" and "supplements" espoused on this site also only treat symptoms. In addition to those facts, it is important for PwP to understand that increasingly scientists and researchers are coming to the conclusion that alpha-synuclein is the common pathogen that links all Parkinson's patients, and therefore any therapy that "cleans out" alpha-synuclein from the brain is a potential "cure". By "cure" I mean something that can slow or stop progression, NOT something that fixes the underlying problem. Scientists are still unsure WHY PwP produce alpha-synuclein in a way that causes trouble because everyone produces the protein, but why PD patients produce "bad" alpha-syn is unclear.
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EDIT: As I point out in my posts on my complete regimen, this is but one part of a "complimentary" therapy. I do not think EGCG alone can fix anything, but when taken as PART of a package it hopefully helps. ALSO and equally important for people with severe symptoms YOU MUST REALIZE nothing we know to date can REPAIR damage already done. What this means to me is that EGCG may only be working to SLOW progression and if that is true you will not FEEL any benefit, but personally that wouldn't stop me from taking 1 pill a day for the rest of my life just in case it is actually just SLOWING progression.
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parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201...
scienceofparkinsons.com/201...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
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So what's my point . . .
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My point is that any molecule that potentially helps clean out alpha-synuclein from the brains of PwP is worth examining closely because it is acting at the root cause of the illness rather than treating just the symptoms. Mannitol is one such example, but this post is about a second supplement that I find intriguing. I first wrote about this supplement several weeks ago, but as I do not have PD, but rather I have SCA1 my initial research was not focused on PD. Today I spent most of the day reading papers on "Green Tea" extract and Parkinson's and my conclusion is . . . If you have PD there are 2 supplements that have zero risk, but hold great potential so I think every person with PD should be taking mannitol and epigallocatechin gallate, but as always I will add that no one should EVER try ANYTHING based on some internet comments without first doing their own research and talking it over with their doctor.
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So, the question is why . . . and the answer is, the amount of research into this supplement is significant. For those who don't find reading science jargon exciting the short version is simply to say research in animal models, cell cultures, and computer models points to the ability of EGCG to "clean out" and minimize the impact of alpha-synuclein. Sadly because this is a "supplement" and there is no money to be made and western science generally scoffs at "supplements" there is very little research in humans, but the little that exists is positive so that's something .
michaeljfox.org/foundation/...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
scienceofparkinsons.com/?s=...
fegt.org/en/clinical-studie...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/293...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/288...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/292...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/286...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/282...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/273...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/272...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/268...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/250...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/168...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/286...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
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In conclusion I will add that the immediate response of any doctor and or researcher will be to say that this supplement does not cross the Blood Brain Barrier, BUT I will counter that by saying I find that to be illogical because the fact is Natural History studies (that means studies of actual people and their actual habits) show that people who drank Green Tea had delayed onset of Parkinson's. That could be because some amount of EGCG is making it into the brain, but the amounts may be so tiny that science can't yet detect. Regardless, the fact remains people who drank green tea saw a real benefit, and research to date shows that if a food has benefit then a supplement probably can magnify that benefit.
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onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/169...
academic.oup.com/ajcn/artic...
ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdoc...
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I will finish by saying I believe I have developed a regimen that "cures" neurological disorders for patients who are symptom free but have a genetic diagnosis and/or are young and have only minor symptoms, and by "cure" I mean an alternative therapy that delays onset long enough so that a patients life span and time without symptoms is long enough to be considered "normal". Obviously this doe not fix whatever is wrong with the patients body that is making it produce "bad' proteins, but rather it is giving the body help in fighting the negative impact of the "bad" protein.