Research on autoimmunity and neurodegenerative disease

[rebtar]

This focuses on Alzheimers but is applicable to PD.

drknews.com/alzheimers-infe...

[MBAnderson]

Thanks rebtar. One of the best articles I've read.

If "Alzheimer's is a disease of inflammation...," -- so is Parkinson's.

There are some things we can and should all do. One is, pay very close attention to keeping microbiome in balance, the health of our intestines.

"In the study ... we identified cross reactivity between 25 different pathogens and amyloid-beta, amyloid-beta precursor proteins, tau proteins, and alpha-synuclein, all of which are linked to neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s.

In other words, if a person has an immune reaction (makes antibodies) to any of these 25 pathogens, their risk of Alzheimer’s may be increased. This is because these pathogens share identical protein sequences to the proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Several other studies have also shown a significant similarity between more than 30 different bacteria, viruses, protozoans, yeasts, and molds with brain proteins that contribute to Alzheimer’s."

"Looking at this from a functional medicine perspective, some mechanisms have jumped out, particularly how important it is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle that promotes a healthy, in-tact gut lining. Leaky gut is foundational to so many health disorders because of the inflammation it causes.

We also know from previous research that the same markers that indicate leaky gut can also be used to screen for a leaky blood-brain barrier. A leaky blood-brain barrier allows bacteria, viruses, yeast, and other pathogens into the brain, significantly raising your risk of these neurodegenerative processes."

Sleep and microbiota

ubiome.com/blog/post/sleep-...

[Hidden]

rebtar,

If this article is correct, mannitol may be bad for us in the long run as it is purported to diminish or alter the BBB and according to that article may be a very bad thing in terms of preventing AD and PD as that could leave the brain open to pathogenic attack!

Art

[alexask in reply to Hidden]

That's a very pessimistic take on Mannitol - which is a Parkinson's trait - catastophic thinking that is. My take is the complete opposite. Given that Mannitol appears to prevent misfolding of alpha-syn I believe it might also be helpful in preventing Alzheimer's too. I think also Mannitol only opens the BBB it is only for a brief period of time - if it does at all. In that time you have a chance to take curcumin , PKK, cinnamon and all the other anti-inflammatory stuff.

[Hidden in reply to alexask]

alexask,

I think you may have misunderstood my point. I don't have PD. If you read what I have written about mannitol, you would see that this is not my view of mannitol! What I said above is based on what the article that rebtar linked to had to say about the BBB. After reading the article and if it is correct, that is what I based my reply on! The article discusses the dangers of an altered or diminished BBB which is one of the main things that mannitol is thought to do! This, according to the article could actually leave our brains open to further attack by a multitude of pathogens capable of worsening both disease states.

Anti inflammatories may not always kill pathogens. If the BBB is even temporarily weakened, the potential for pathogenic attack is increased!

This is what I have written about mannitol and explains my view , but if this article is correct, my view may not be comprehensive enough!

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

Art

[alexask in reply to Hidden]

Art,

Sorry I had forgotten that you are one of the small number of non-afflicted members of this forum.

My understanding of Mannitol is that the affect on the BBB is only transient and very short-lived. Given I believe a significant minority are reporting benefits from Mannitol on here I find it somewhat hard to believe that what may be good for one part of Parkinson's symptoms which are brain-related would be bad for another part of the brain.

Cheers

Alex

[Hidden in reply to alexask]

alexask,

I couldn't agree more! There is so much that we still don't know about the effects of mannitol, but I do believe in its potential for some PWPs up to this point! What I wrote about mannitol discussed one of those "other aspects" of mannitol that is not really discussed as much as its effects on alpha synuclein and the BBB. The article that rebtar linked to just gave me pause to consider what it said!

Art

[MBAnderson in reply to Hidden]

alexask & Art,

You both make good points, so I think this is worth looking into more thoroughly.

While I take mannitol, I have harbored concerns about, among other things, its potential to adversely affect our micro biome, as other artificial sweeteners do.

I don't have a hard time imagining that something can be good for some aspect of PD and bad for some other aspect of PD. I don't think that is all that uncommon. We need to try and figure out if the good outweighs the bad or vice versa.

I'll go to the Clinicrowd operation and otherwise start reading.

Marc

[rebtar in reply to MBAnderson]

Good discussion. I look forward to hearing more as I also take Mannitol, and have had the same concerns.

[MBAnderson in reply to Hidden]

I'll keep looking, but the 1st thing I did was reread Simon's blog May 30, 2018, wherein, as usual, he draws no conclusion.

Clearly, what we have to figure out, is what constitutes the correct dose, since a low dose is beneficial and a high doses is not.

If we're lucky, there will be a distinction in the dose used by the clinicrowd people who got good vs bad results. Apparently, Simon didn't pick up on looking at that.

In the meantime, I am going to reduce my morning dose with coffee from a heaping teaspoon to a few grams.

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

"A blood-brain barrier (BBB) disrupter is also a potent α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation inhibitor: a novel dual mechanism of mannitol for the treatment of Parkinson disease (PD)."