Some promising evidence for fisetin in PD - Cure Parkinson's

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Some promising evidence for fisetin in PD

MehmetKutlu profile image
9 Replies

Fisetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant flavonoid most abundant in strawberries, also available as a supplement, may benefit PD:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/228...

This study describes how foods rich in fisetin and hexacosanol added to a strict diet reversed most symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) in one patient. This is a case report involving outpatient care. The subject was a dietitian diagnosed with idiopathic PD in 2000 at the age of 53 years old, with a history of exposure to neurotoxins and no family history of PD. A basic diet started in 2000 consisted of predominantly fruits, vegetables, 100% whole grains, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, nonfat milk products, tea, coffee, spices, small amounts of dark chocolate, and less than 25 g of animal fat daily. The basic diet alone failed to prevent decline due to PD. In 2009, the basic diet was enhanced with a good dietary source of both fisetin and hexacosanol. Six months after the patient started the enhanced diet rich in fisetin and hexacosanol, a clinically significant improvement in symptoms was noted; the patient's attending neurologist reported that the clinical presentation of cogwheel rigidity, micrographia, bradykinesia, dystonia, constricted arm swing with gait, hypomimia, and retropulsion appeared to be resolved. The only worsening of symptoms occurred when the diet was not followed precisely. Little improvement in tremor or seborrhea was observed. The clinical improvement has persisted to date. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case where adjunctive diet therapy resulted in a significant reduction of symptoms of PD without changing the type or increasing the amount of medications.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/287...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-associated degenerative disease of the midbrain that results from the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. It initially presents as a movement disorder with cognitive and other behavioral problems appearing later in the progression of the disease. Current therapies for PD only delay the onset or reduce the motor symptoms. There are no treatments to stop the nerve cell death or to cure the disease. It is becoming increasingly clear that neurological diseases such as PD are multi-factorial involving disruptions in multiple cellular systems. Thus, it is unlikely that modulating only a single factor will be effective at either preventing disease development or slowing disease progression. A better approach is to identify small molecules that have multiple biological activities relevant to the maintenance of brain function. Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds that are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables and therefore regularly consumed in the human diet. While flavonoids were historically characterized on the basis of their antioxidant and free radical scavenging effects, more recent studies have shown that flavonoids have a wide range of activities that could make them particularly effective as agents for the treatment of PD. In this article, the multiple physiological benefits of flavonoids in the context of PD are first reviewed. Then, the evidence for the beneficial effects of the flavonol fisetin in models of PD are discussed. These results, coupled with the known actions of fisetin, suggest that it could reduce the impact of PD on brain function.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/268...

According to the epidemiological reports published by the World Health Organization, the proportion of elderly people (over 60 years) will increase from 11% to 22% by 2050 worldwide. This increase will be associated with a growing rate of morbidity and mortality of age-related diseases. Mental and neurodegenerative diseases are important health problems in elderly people. Therefore, recent research has been focused on finding effective neuroprotective agents with low adverse effects. Over the last two decades, much attention has been drawn to plant-derived bioactive compounds as novel therapeutic agents for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Among them, flavonoid chemical class is known as one of the most bioactive and non-toxic phytochemicals, which are widely found in different herbal medicines and edible plants. Fisetin is one of the most common and bioactive flavonoids which possesses potential neuroprotective effects. Fisetin also enhances learning and memory, decreases neuronal cell death, and suppresses oxidative stress. The present paper aims to critically evaluate the available literature regarding the beneficial effects of fisetin on neurodegenerative diseases, especially AD and PD. In addition, we provide information regarding the chemistry, sources, bioavailability and clinical impacts of fisetin to provide a broad spectrum for the use of this compound as a new approach to the treatment of AD and PD.

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MehmetKutlu
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KERRINGTON profile image
KERRINGTON

Very interesting, and thought provoking. It is worth further investigation. So easy to add strawberries and wheat germ to our diet. Thanks

LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345

Wash strawberries well or buy organic as they are on the top 10 foods for pesticide contamination.

cbsnews.com/news/strawberri...

Hecacosonal was also added and diet was changed to Mediterranean diet. Hexacosanol ameliorates the effects of Kainic acid, a neurotoxin.

High-fat diet-induced obesity exacerbates kainic acid-induced hippocampal cell death.

What is Hexacosanol?

Hexacosanol is a fatty alcohol and is found in wheat germ oil, and rice bran oil.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/188...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Vegan diet with no more than 1/7 animal protein helpful

scielo.org.co/pdf/rfmun/v62...

MehmetKutlu profile image
MehmetKutlu in reply to LAJ12345

Thanks a lot for elaborating the subject.

You are entirely right about the pesticide issue. I hope they are testing fisetin supplements for such nasty substances.

As for hexacosanol, counteracting kainic acid should be a good thing, as the latter is reported to be an arch enemy of nigral dopaminergic neurons.

MehmetKutlu profile image
MehmetKutlu in reply to LAJ12345

It seems this issue was already brought to attention 3 years ago. The patient, a nutritionist, gives an account of the course of her disease till 2015. It is notable that, after she had to avoid strawberries due to development of severe allergy, she was still able to obtain benefit from a fisetin supplement.

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

alexask profile image
alexask

Just ordered some fisetin - but Holland and Barrett are out of stock. Josh Mitteldorf has an article on Fisetin just today - he is very positive about its anti-inflammatory status.

joshmitteldorf.scienceblog....

MehmetKutlu profile image
MehmetKutlu in reply to alexask

Very good reading - thanks.

Selfhacked.com has a positive article:

selfhacked.com/blog/15-scie...

Meanwhile, a 2018 review paper sees a potential for fisetin in the prevention and treatment of human cancers:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/292...

LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345

naturaldatabase.therapeutic....

Interactions with Drugs:

LEVODOPA/CARBIDOPA /hexacosanol(octacosanol)

Interaction Rating = Moderate Be cautious with this combination.

Severity = Moderate • Occurrence = Probable • Level of Evidence = D

Octacosanol might worsen dyskinesias and increase nervous tension in patients being treated with levodopa/carbidopa (11901).

JerMan22 profile image
JerMan22

I've been supplementing with fisetin for almost a year, since I saw this study mentioned in some videos I've shared here on HU. I'm doing fairly well at the moment (fingers crossed), but I have no idea if it's because of fisetin, my exercising routine, my vegan diet, eating lots of blueberries, B1... I could go on.

MehmetKutlu profile image
MehmetKutlu in reply to JerMan22

Nice practice. The odds are high that fisetin might have helped.

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