What are the probable known causes of Parkinson's disease please
thanks?
What are the probable known causes of Parkinson's disease please
thanks?
Parkinsons is caused by Nerve Cells in the brain breaking down; they're called Neurons and they produce Dopamine. The more the Neurons break down, the less Dopamine is made. When there's less Dopamine, there's more abnormal brain activity which causes Tremors, balance problems and so on. Parkinsons is usually not hereditary, but if you have a close relative with it, it increases your chances. some environmental factors can play a part like exposure to certain toxins like Pesticides.
I believe the cause of my husband's diagnosis to be caused by Alcoholism which has been chronic since his early 30's and now is 58.
I think there is pretty conclusive evidence that pesticides and insecticides can cause PD. I grew up on a farm and I think I got sprayed about as much as the fruit trees in the orchard plus we had of our well right next to the orchard. My sister has Addison’s and I have PD.
Yes Enida I'm sure that the sprays on our food and what we breathe in has a lot to do with many illnesses. I was only talking about insecticides to my husband this morning, how are we supposed to wash vegetables like Brocoli it's pretty much impossible, I must wash it umpteen times but still cannot believe it's going to do us any good probably more harm than good!
Even organic farmers as I understand it are allowed to use a certain amount of some sprays.
Don’t forget, I’m talking about a very intensive exposure to these chemicals when growing up. Don’t be spooked out of eating a well balanced healthy diet. If a fruit has a thick skin such as an orange or bananas I don’t worry about buying organic but if it is spinach or apple or berries, things with direct contact with chemicals I buy organic.
You can deactivate pesticides on the surface of fruits and vegetables by soaking them in water with baking soda to raise the ph of the water.
Unfortunately you can't do anything about the systemic chemicals. Eating organic food is demonstrated to lower pesticides in the body. It's an imperfect system but it is the best choice at the moment.
Certified non-GMO is a marketing gimmick, it means nothing. Products that state "all natural" are also just a marketing tool.
We switched to eating organic food 10 years ago, when there wasn't much available. We stopped eating out, this made buying organic food more affordable. It just tastes better.
Cleaning up your diet is the best thing you can do for your health. Nutrition is the cure for disease. You cannot recover if you keep poisoning yourself through ingestion of environmental toxins.
I agree with what Stazina said about the cause of PD, and it's not just PD, it's a whole host of neurodegenerative diseases. Even the genetic disorders can be helped with nutrition.
There isn't a silver bullet, multiple factors lead to us becoming ill and the protocol should be tailored to the individual. I believe this is where functional medicine will shine.
The nutritional protocol I am interested in is the Plant based Ketogenic Diet. The primary benefit is reduction of inflammation and brain support from healthy fats. You undo all the benefits if you eat food contaminated with chemicals.
I have also decided to treat my Parkinsonism/ALS as though it is cancer. We know cancer can be healed. So can neurological disorders; Terry Wahls, MD recovered from her MS using functional nutrition. She has a book and TEDx video. I'm intrigued by the Budwig protocol that uses protein and fats in a specific combination for cancer therapy.
My reasoning is that cancer and neurological disorders exist on a spectrum, cancer is on one end and neurodegeneration is on the other. Both are triggered by oxidative stress and production of reactive oxygen species in response to injury(s) that can be chronic or acute. This is where our genes come in to play. This was made clear to me when I learned that ALS is linked to non-hodgkin's lymphoma, and there is discussion that ALS is a paraneoplastic syndrome, ie cancer. There is hope for recovery. Causation is not acknowledged by the medical system, therefore we have to support each other. That's what makes this site and the people here so awesome!
Cheers to your health and healing. Happy Mother's Day!
When I worked on a golf course I use to spray paraquat around the ponds to kill the cattails. Didn't wear any PPE and the stuff would be running down my arms usually whenever I sprayed it. Always wondered if that might have caused my Parkinson's. My father had Parkinson's, so there might be a genetic link too.
The stuff was pretty potent. Within 48 hours the cattails would be brown and dead looking. Supposedly, according to the manufacturer, it doesn't harm the fish. I seriously doubt that now. I only came in contact with paraquat two or three times while working on the golf course, but I bet it had some effect on my health. It would be hard to prove though.
Some people have a gene for it but that’s not very common. Inflammation caused by diet may be a cause, possibly food sensitivities like gluten, dairy. Faults in some genes that stop vitamins being processed properly, some pharmaceuticals, heavy metals. Too much iron probably. Not enough vegetables in the diet, and too much animal products. Not enough exercise.
Letra de música
In my case, I believe partly attributable to overexposure to toluene and other chemicals in childhood. My father worked out of our basement making furniture. The toluene is a glue for Formica, a bright turquoise color as I remember it, with a very strong smell. It's on the list. But I was also exposed to lacquer thinner, lacquer, stains, etc. My father had Parkinson's, my mother a form of dementia. I've had 23 and Me test and don't have any of the genes they look for.
I have friends with PD who, like Enidah, grew up on farms and were overexposed to pesticides.
Yes PDGa14 there is some nasty stuff out there and we all fail to protect ourselves properly when using them, even household cleaning products which we do not need a license to buy can cause a lot of illness and do we really need much of it. I think not!
Do you have mthfr gene? It means you can’t process b vitamins properly and might need to supplement.
Per 23andMe I have the CC genotype at rs6812193 near the SCARB2 gene associated with about 1.2 times higher odds of Parkinson's disease compared to individuals with the CT genotype, and those with the TT genotype had about 1.2 times lower odds of Parkinson's disease.
I have GG at rs10513789 where each copy of a G at rs10513789 in the MCCC1 gene was
associated with 0.8 times the odds of Parkinson's disease.
I don’t fully understand the whole report. How do you find out if you have the mthfr gene?
I think the important question Is to look at your body currently and determine what health conditions may be contributing to the progression of the disease. Here is a list I can think of.
Heavy metals, general toxins like pesticides, leaky gut syndrome, mycotoxin Stress, drug use and alcohol, bad diet marcons And I’m sure is a long list of other diseases That can stress the brain gut and the body that will contribute to the progression of disease
Hi Patman60,
My body has had its fair share of stress, two neck operations, being a cervical discectomy and a cervical Corpectomy with fusion in 2008, recently I had Auto immune haemolytic anaemia which is ok at the moment but can return at any time only to be diagnosed with PD 17 months ago which I think was possibly brewing up to 3-4 years ago, so plenty of stress which is still ongoing especially from my neck.
I'm on Sinemet which causes thumping headaches, 2 x 3 times a day but in the last week or so I have reduced slightly by 1/2 twice a day which seems to be helping until today as I woke up with a headache this morning. I have also started on Vitamin B1 hcl 2x 500mg Thiamine . But my tremor, Left leg and left /h fingers have got worse could be reduction in Sinemet or introduction of the Thiamine. It's all trial and error so just have to ride out the storm !! What will win Headaches or Tremor I'm thinking the lessor of the two evils is the tremor!
With your neck issues you may want to research the glymphatic system which removes waste from the brain to better understand how to maintain its optimum performance -,sleep hydration chiropractic care Good luck
Hi Patman60
Thank you for your advice and good wishes.
Yes I should drink more water and I am not getting enough sleep but Chiropractic care, no good for me as I have 3 vertebrae fused together c5-6 & c6-7 the result of a bone graft taken from my hip on my second operation plus a titanium plate to hold it all together, the third fusion happened when the bone graft having found a good blood supply continued to grow and tracked down between my spinal column and the titanium plate and has now fused the T1 so you can imagine that a chiropractor is not a good idea.
It has caused me many years of pain and discomfort. I just hope that it stops and that it does not decide to interfere with my spinal column. Every time my neck or head aches I can't help thinking that something nasty is going on in there.
On my last visit to my surgeon I asked ( after being shown the x-ray of what was happening)
'' does that mean that my neck would become more rigid''
He looked at me and said brusquely ''Iive with it''
I think he was having a bad day!
Yes I agree.
Here is a post I made from a wee while ago. I wonder how many people have issues with their sinuses not effectively working so the brains waste disposal is not working properly. It does seem a likely contributor.
I have Parkinsons. I've never lived on a farm. None of my family members have pd. I left home n worked n lived with most of my best friends I've known for 33 yrs none have pd. I hate gardening n avoid it. I don't know how I got this disease. I just want a cure
Gardening gets you out in the sun at least. Or you could just sit in the sun which provides multiple benefits like brain derived neurotrophic factor, melanin, melatonin and serotonin. The circadian rhythm is central to PD and that can be partly managed with sun exposure. See the book "Embrace the Sun". There is a gradient of incidence going north to south geographically so what does that tell us?
Possibly diet then? You may be exposed to pesticides in food.
Or sensitive to gluten or dairy or processed food with additives? You may have gene defects that mean you can’t process toxic additives, pharmaceuticals etc , or can’t utilise vitamins properly. If youhave had antibiotics or steroids as a child you may not have good gut bacteria?
Parkinson's disease is Hereditary my father died from complications from the disease .At age 50 I was diagnosed with it although I have worked in the beauxite mining industry as Security officers in my native Jamaica. I am convinced that its hereditary
Other than the food source I was never exposed to chemical's, too much speculation about this darn disease hence there is no cure even the medical community after over 100 yrs still speculating omg.
Lyme and coinfections, mold toxicity, heavy metals, Candida/gut health, etc.
2Farmboys, my mother was diagnosed with lyme about 6 months before her PD diagnosis. Don’t know how long she had the Lyme. I’ve often thought there is a link and have tried to pursue this but without much luck. She was treated for the Lyme so most medical professionals considered her treated/cured. I suspect she’s suffering from chronic Lyme symptoms that are complicating/compounding her PD. Curious given your comment if you have any additional info about a possible link/how to talk to health care professionals about this? Thanks!
Mercury in vaccines, and in my case a mercury amalgam filling that was removed improperly was the icing on the cake. See my profile for details.
My father had PD and so does my older sister, so it can be hereditary.
So many variables as to what can cause PD. What contributed to my husbands PD I believe is: gallbladder removal early 20's, abnormal LFT's all adult life except for the last year, ex farmer used to spray roundup etc with no protection so constant spray drift, liberal pesticide use on farm animals, working in water treatment industry with many chemicals, working in toxic sites such as ex mines and timber mills to remediate land, was raised on a dairy farm where 'back in the day' they used chemicals on everything, liberal use of derris dust (retenone) on home garden growing up and up until 5 years ago when I found a link to PD. So I believe due to the obvious liver dysfunction early on his body has been unable to detoxify and handle all the stresses these life events have thrown at him. Also there is a melanoma PD link, his sister has had 3 melanomas removed, he has PD and 4x risk of melanomas - so genetic factor too? Havent tested for mthfr gene but functional dr says all testing points to mthfr mutation so this would have contributed too. Also emotional stress, have had a couple of very major life issues with one of our children.
The truth is, we do not know, but here you will read some interesting theories.
A fervent belief in something, however sincerely held, is not proof.
Phenotype = Genotype + Environment + Genotype x Environment Interaction
Some people have genes that increase risk, some people have environmental exposures that increase risk, and some people have genes that increase risk under the influence of specific environmental factors - most probably have some combination of these factors. Disease development depends on having enough factors all together to tip the scale towards the disease state.
The basic causal chain is: something causes a large amount of ROS to be generated -> endoplasmic reticulum stress -> misfolded alpha synuclein -> aggregation of misfolded alpha synuclein -> death of neurons, activation of microglia & astrocytes ->
and around back to making more ROS, lather, rinse, repeat
Here's a link to a diagram illustrating the process:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Traumatic brain injury and acute kidney injury are each associated with a higher risk of developing PD. My father had Multiple System Atrophy, which is a synucleinopathy like PD. He was an amateur heavy weight boxer in the early 50's; the fight officials were not so good about making sure the boxers did not get 'punch drunk' and on one occasion he left his opponent permanently (and obviously) brain injured. Repeated brain trauma causes a lot of inflammation which generates a lot of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
As others have mentioned pesticide exposure is associated with increased risk. Paraquat and rotenone inhibit complex I of the respiratory chain in mitochondria; the mitochondrial dysfunction causes the generation of ROS. An a-hole limnology grad student put rotenone in my dinner ~25 yrs ago; I have some bad genes that aren't directly associated with PD, but are linked to inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction. I'll find out in a few years what happens, I guess...
Very interesting Ryothemis,
Something about ROS and the role of Thiamine
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Very interesting - added to my Zotero account. I was just thinking about the role of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) & that perhaps I have been too focused on ROS. That thiamine is effective in reducing ER stress is really encouraging.
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Methylene blue reduces the formation of RNS and some people take it (sometimes the aquarium grade stuff ) for 'cognitive enhancement', but I'm too chicken to do that. Witch hazel extract is a peroxynitrite (a major form of RNS) scavenger. Thiamine's probably safer than either one of those.
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Uric acid is also a peroxynitrite scavenger; it's good to be in the 'uric acid sweet spot':
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TUDCA reduces ER stress.
I really recommend you listen to this. It is about fatigue, mitochondrial function, and talks about MS but I believe this could also be the key to PD too.
My Parkinson’s was caused by MOLD! check your house for mold - and chemicals “- that is the first thing I would do!
How were you able to know that mold was the cause of PD? How did you go about getting your house tested and was it expensive? I'm wondering about our own home.
Look up dr Richard Shoemaker - he has a lot of answers to your questions . My immunologist Went to a conference and learned how to test for mold. She tested me and my test came out that I had a lot of mold and different kinds of molds in my body. She said get out of your house right away because if you have a mold in your body it’s in your house. I then tested my house for mold and sure enough there was mold I couldn’t see it I couldn’t smell it but it was there and it was the kind of mold that causes Parkinson’s. Dr. Shoemaker has a list of doctors that throughout the country that know how to treat this. Some People get healed by using different programs that work on the limbic system. If you have any other questions feel free to write. I hope this helps you
Thanks for responding! I did find studies linking a certain mold to PD, but further studies still have to be conducted. Other than moving if a house has mold, how does one detox if the damage has already occurred, and continues to occur, from mold resulting in the PD diagnosis?
The truth as I see it and experienced it is I could never go back into the house after spending about 80000 to fix it. I threw everything away and started over - this is what my doctors told me to do . Move out if a moldy house and zFAST - it can kill you. First move to a clean no mold no chemicals environment and then Work on your limbic system disorder caused from the mold - ie Howard Shifke - I would look into Shifke’s program - BUY HIS BOOK ON AMAZON/ FIGHTING PARKINSONS AND WINNING / read his blog and sign up for his counseling - it s the best thing you can do for yourself / change your diet , your life \ forgive everyone / and yourself / reading the Bible and going to church helped me - stay away from doctors - Change everything learn that you don’t have the option of entertaining negative thoughts. Buy the book YOUR THOUGHTS ARE KILLING YOU by Marybeth wurnschel and know that healing takes s lot of effort and time ! Hope this is s start
Most degenerative conditionsare the result of a storm composed of multiple factors laid onto a set of particular group of a number of genes. The factors could be heavy metals (which can inhibit the enzymes that detox pesticides etc), numerous chemicals that pollute our processed and sprayed foods, water and air. A vast array of pathogens (virus', bacteria, mold...) that can invade our brains via blood, the nose and the gut. Further, add to that excess sugar (a cause of inflammation and glycation (which can trigger a host of unwanted chemistries). Additionally there is that chronic stress to accelerate the harmful effects of the above. Combine that with a lack of the right stuff (lots of clean plants, wild caught fish, clean meats, sunshine, fresh air,exercise, peace, loving relationships, adequate sleep). "Cook" all this over time and we have a problem that can't be successful treated with one drug.
How right you are Jandeb, well said, if only we could turn back the clock knowing what we know now, maybe we would not be in the situation we now find ourselves in.
Depends on how it matters or for whom it matters. When I was newly diagnosed, I was obsessing over what I may have done wrong and what went wrong. My doctor thought I was psychotic and my friends and family thought I was going nuts. Until I explained to everyone that it mattered to me because if I could change anything that contributed to the disease, I could hope to stop the progression.
I don’t think that cells keep on dying as a natural consequence of the disease. Repeated exposure to the same causative factors must have something to do with the disease progression. It doesn’t help that doctors say that they “just don’t know “
I did find studies linking a certain mold to PD, but further studies still have to be conducted. Other than moving if a house has mold, how does one detox if the damage has already occurred, and continues to occur, from mold as the PD progresses?
Move out of that house as quickly as is possible and move into a clean environment with no mold and no chemicals. There are a lot of things that you can use for detox you can do saunas you can take IVs you can use Glutathione some doctors use other types of medications To clear the body of the mold. But as I said in my last answer the exposure to the mold and the chemicals causes a limbic system disorder which must be worked on ..
I would suggest you clean up your diet eat healthy - Change everything clean up your relationships forgive everyone for everything etc. etc. etc. as I said going to church and reading the Bible helped me a lot
Stress,depression,anxiety and over training.