More Reason for Cautious Optimism

[jimcaster]

“The concept is that aggregates of the protein alpha-synuclein, thought to play a key role in the disease, arise within the enteric nervous system (ENS) and travel up the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system (CNS) where they ultimately cause inflammation and destruction of parts of the brain. Targeting the formation of alpha-synuclein aggregates in the ENS may therefore slow the progression of the disease,” Zasloff said.

parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201...

[Astra7]

This is promising. I wonder if people with excellent digestion get PD? Mine has always been a bit dodgy with irregular bowel movements and sensitivity to fat. Even more so now with a constant battle with constipation.

I can think of no reason at all why I got PD so young (52) except this.

[chartist in reply to Astra7]

Astra7,

One of my PD friends has never had constipation or digestive issues that are apparent to him. Pd definitely keeps you thinking!

[jimcaster in reply to chartist]

I have never had digestive or constipation issues either. It's anyone's guess, but I believe PD begins in the gut for some people and in the olfactory bulb in others.

[kaypeeoh in reply to jimcaster]

I watch a lot of u-tube videos of neurologists lecturing other doctors. I saw videos making the same claims. But also saw videos recommending nicotine patches as a treatment for bradykinesia. My earliest symptom may have been olfactory hallucinations.

[chartist in reply to jimcaster]

Jim,

The friend that I mentioned did have loss of smell and taste, but it came years after his first PD symptoms appeared.

Art

[Zella23]

My husband, DX four years ago has never had any digestive or constipation issues so don’t think his Parkinson's started from there. But who knows?

[jimcaster in reply to Zella23]

Was loss of sense of smell one of your husband's first symptoms?

[Zella23 in reply to jimcaster]

Possibly but can’t remember exact time but also I noticed shoulder stiffness when he walked but he didn’t notice this - about 9 years ago! 5 years before diagnosis. Frozen shoulder too.

[KERRINGTON in reply to Zella23]

My shoulder stiffness began when I began tensing up my shoulder in an effort to stop my hand tremor in public.

[kaypeeoh in reply to KERRINGTON]

Hmm, I've had dominant hand tremor for three years now. Lately I've had shoulder pain. At my age, 63, I assumed it's arthritis. Is the 'stiffness' similar to arthritis? IE worse on cold mornings, better with heat? Or does it respond to sinemet?

[KERRINGTON in reply to kaypeeoh]

My damn tremor began lightly about 15 yrs ago, and I noticed shoulder tightness gradually increase. B1, and/or mucuna puriens relieve it. I'm guessing sine met would too ?

[chartist in reply to kaypeeoh]

kaypeeoh,

Some members have found relief for shoulder pain with mag oil (MO).

Here is a link to one 8 ounce spray product under $10 that makes it easy and inexpensive to test MO. It is also helpful for arthritis pain and other pain in my experience :

amazon.com/Magnesium-Oil-Sp...

Art

[Rosenmu]

I've had gut issues for many years, pretty sure mine started there, no constipation though, have had a problem with being very susceptible to food borne bacteria, ie. food poisoning. I also have high levels of inflammation. I have read that toxins attach to the protein, cause folding issues and then transferred to the brain. Perhaps one reason they can attach is due to poor gut health.

[aspergerian]

The article is open access.

Gastrointestinal Immunity and Alpha-Synuclein.

content.iospress.com/articl...

[aspergerian]

See also, open access, cited in Gastrointestinal Immunity and Alpha-Synuclein.

Role of TLR4 in the gut-brain axis in Parkinson’s disease: a translational study from men to mice.

gut.bmj.com/content/68/5/829

[WinnieThePoo]

There have been a couple of threads recently about new research which shows some PD starts in the enteric nervous system spreads to the brain. And some originates in the brain. I am Winnie the pooh because I think the gut brain axis is key. And i love stories about alpha synuclein being a problem since I am participating in a trial for a monoclonal alpha synuclein antibody

[kaypeeoh]

Cool, I was originally dx'd with multiple sclerosis. I took monthly tysabri infusions for 2 years. Tysabri in a monoclonal antibody. I don't take it anymore.

[Jandeb]

I never had GI problems(constipation) until about a year after diagnosis. However, did lose most of my sense of smell several years ago. Just turned 70 last week. From blood work it appears that pesticides and mercury may have played a major role as well as a variety of viral species and pathogens.

Winnie, how is our trial going?