Dr Marty Hinz amino acid protocol
for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
This summary is the result of a detailed study I have made based on reading a whole range of papers published by Dr Marty Hinz and his colleagues as well as papers he refers to published by other researchers. It is certainly not finished, but I’m now ready to share what I have learned so far.
I became interested in this protocol after reading a post by Bassofspades. I would like to thank him for that. I believe this protocol may be useful to PD sufferers. It is complementary to the thiamine treatment of Dr C which has already served me very well indeed.
I am a research scientist (chemist/physicist) but this is not my field of expertise, so I do not have the years of experience necessary to criticize in detail what I have read and I therefore may have missed certain points. I would also point out that Dr Hinz operates from a commercial clinic rather than from a fundamental research environment.
From his publications and case studies Dr Hinz makes many hypotheses and assertions, but also REFUTES certain practices that are currently used in treating PD. Based on what I have read his conclusions appear to be credible, logical and are certainly interesting but I am not convinced that they are yet fully proven. However, Marty Hinz is certainly extremely knowledgeable about PD and deserves to be read. His protocol is based on a model of how PD originates and how any treatments (or nutrients) that are administered may interfere with each other, either over time or concomitantly. His publications are very difficult to understand, partly because he makes no attempt to summarize or simplify, but also because the interacting processes of cell biology and metabolism are themselves extremely complex.
His initial assertion is that PD occurs because of nutrient imbalance and can be treated or mitigated using natural nutrients. Before you disregard this approach as a health food diet plan, I should add here that L-Dopa, the most common PD medication currently used, is a naturally occurring nutrient. What he calls nutrients are therefore not what we would call food, but are chemicals that the body naturally uses or produces to function properly. In his protocol he administers these in balanced amounts, avoiding overdosing and conflicts, to ensure that cells have the availability they need to correct previous imbalances. The Hinz protocol uses what are called co-factors and precursors. These are naturally occurring substances that the body uses to make or help make the molecules that are deficient in PD sufferers.
A complex processes
To give you an insight into the interconnected processes, lets take a look at how L-Dopa and AADC interact to make dopamine. Make your own schema to visualize the process.
Tyrosine is the precursor of L- Dopa, which in turn is the precursor of Dopamine that is in short supply in PD patients. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that we need for nerve cells to communicate properly.
AADC (L-amino acid decarboxylase) is an enzyme (co-factor) which is used to convert (metabolize) Tyrosine into L-Dopa and L-Dopa into dopamine in the brain.
AADC is also the co-factor for the production of the neurotransmitter Serotonin from 5-HTP (5-hydroxy-tryptophan). PD patients also suffer from insufficient Serotonin.
These two processes (and many others may be in competition for the use of AADC such that administering L-Dopa may increase the production of Dopamine, but at the same time cause Serotonin deficiency if too much L-Dopa is administered and there is not enough AADC to satisfy both processes at once. Too much L-Dopa is therefore detrimental. When too much is administered, according to Hinz, L-Dopa is no longer a simple nutrient, but becomes a drug with side effects.
These competitive processes are very common and may lead to what Hinz calls Relative Nutritional Deficiencies (RND). New RNDs can be caused by the medication used to treat illnesses like PD. I will come to the special case of Carbidopa-induced RND and Hinz’s alternative treatment later.
Vitamin B6 controls the production of AADC and some 300 other enzymes. These are called B6 dependent enzymes. Without ample vitamin B6, these processes stop.
You see how everything is interconnected even in this simplified example.
Neuroprotection
Hinz starts by addressing the origin of PD that he and others attribute to dopamine neuron damage to synapses caused by lipophilic neurotoxins (found e.g. in pesticides). The most powerful protection against these neurotoxins is Glutathione. Current treatments do not deal with this. Severe glutathione deficiency is known to occur before PD symptoms occur. Early symptoms may be a reversible RND caused by a deficit of Glutathione The precursor of Glutathione is L-Cysteine and the cofactors, essential to produce L-Cysteine are vitamin B6 dependent enzymes. The first component of the Hinz protocol is therefore to ensure an adequate and balanced supply of both L-Cysteine and vitamin B6 administered simultaneously.
Dopamine and Serotonin production
The key elements here are the precursors Tyrosine and 5-HTP. For patients who do not need direct L-Dopa supplements, Dopamine and Serotonin can be sourced from Tyrosine and 5-HTP, provided there is an adequate supply of Vitamin B6 to produce the AADC needed to metabolize Tyrozine to L-Dopa and 5HTP to Serotonin. These are in competition and should be administered simultaneously.
The special case of L-Dopa/Carbidopa drugs.
Carbidopa is integrated into L-Dopa drugs only to mitigate nausea caused by artificial dosing of L-Dopa (in doses that make it a drug rather than a nutrient).
Carbidopa binds to and then deactivates Vitamin B6 therefor deregulating all processes dependent on B6 including the production of AADC. The subsequent metabolism of L-Dopa to Dopamine is then compromised as are all AADC related processes. In this case the initial surge of dopamine production due to absorption of L-Dopa is followed by a collapse of the process caused by Carbidopa depleting AADC. The Hinz protocol requires a complete elimination of Carbidopa over a period of 30 days combined with a higher dose of vitamin B6 to boost AADC.
5-HTP is proposed as a superior alternative to Carbidopa without the side effects and without depleting B6 or AADC.
The 4 main components of the protocol are therefore all natural nutrients
Vitamin B6, L-Cysteine, L-Tyrosine, 5-HTP.
For patients using L-Dopa, this was sourced from D5 Mucuna 40% L-Dopa.
I should emphasize that Hinz recommends that this protocol should only be used under medical supervision from medical professionals certified to carry out necessary tests and adjust the dosing to balance the needs of the patients.
Much of the information can be found in this one publication and references therein, but it is unbelievably indigestible. Happy reading
dovepress.com/parkinsonrsqu...
Albert
Now he is on 20% which is 140mg L-dopa and he says is the right dose (2-3 a day). Does it have to be 40% L-dopa?
PD drugs accelerate disease progression 
5-HTP / serotonin and symptom reduction
