Perhaps as a future PD medication, but nothing prevents you from enjoying seafood in your (MIND) diet already!
From the Science News Team of the Dutch Parkinson's association I read the following article.
There is limited knowledge about the role of substances derived from marine life in the development and progression of Parkinson's disease. A recent review study reveals that components from various marine animals hold great potential as the basis for a possible future medication.
Portuguese researchers conducted an extensive study on what is already known about the role of substances obtained from marine life in treating diseases that involve premature degeneration of brain cells, known as "neurodegenerative" diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. According to these researchers, the sea and its inhabitants offer a unique and diverse source of substances with significant therapeutic value for various of these conditions.
The study lists the components extracted from marine life and unveils how they can protect nerve cells in both laboratory and natural environments. These components include approximately 60 substances derived from marine bacteria, fungi, mollusks, sea cucumbers, seaweed, soft corals, sponges, and starfish. These marine organisms produce complex molecules, some of which play a role in the brain.
The marine biologists, together with a pharmacologist, have compiled an inventory of compounds that may slow down Parkinson's disease processes. This includes peptides, alkaloids, quinones, terpenes, polysaccharides, polyphenols, lipids, pigments, and mycotoxins. All of these substances play a role in Parkinson's disease, for example, by reducing oxidative stress, preventing dysfunctional mitochondria (small "factories" in cells), aggregating the alpha-synuclein protein, and counteracting inflammatory processes.
However, there is still a long way to go before they can be developed into usable medications. It is now up to other researchers to develop and test these new drugs in practice. This requires clinical research, including studying their safety in real-world settings. Such research is also necessary to improve the way these substances can reach the brain through the bloodstream, possibly with the help of nanoparticles, as most of the substances from the inventory currently cannot pass the blood-brain barrier.
Source
Joana Silva et al., Marine-Derived Components: Can They Be a Potential Therapeutic Approach to Parkinson's Disease? Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(8), 451; doi.org/10.3390/md21080451
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The MIND diet, which stands for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a diet designed to promote brain health and reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. It combines elements of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). Recent studies even suggest that the MIND diet may be more effective than the Mediterranean diet in reducing the risk of Parkinson's. I posted about it some time ago.
The MIND diet emphasizes consuming foods that are beneficial for the brain, such as green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil, fish, poultry, and whole grains. It also encourages limiting the consumption of foods that can be harmful to the brain, such as red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries, and fried foods.
The diet also includes recommendations for consuming specific nutrients that are important for brain health, such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and B vitamins. In practice, it is a very manageable diet to follow. While certain foods are discouraged, you can occasionally indulge in moderation.😋
I think my wife is a fan of the MIND diet without knowing it... or maybe she knows it, I probably already follow it 80%, the remaining 20% is my stuff.
I'm rereading the study at your link, really interesting:
Very interesting. The oxidative stress and dysfunctional mitochondria ties in with often reduced glutathione for which NAC may be of use. Likely been discussed here before - certainly being discussed more re Lupus, Sjogren's, CFS/ME youtube.com/watch?v=nVHEPgV...
They say that the substances cannot pass the blood-brain barrier, but presumably that presupposes a correctly functioning barrier, rather than a more than usually permeable one, which many may have.
You wonder how much the seafood is improving copper balance, amongst all the other mentioned compounds. Copper doesn't want to be too high, but absolutely not too low.
I think they are referring compounds from eg sea sponges, not necessarily from fish.
I used to work in a chemistry research lab years ago and we were extracting and purifying extracts from nz sea sponges and sending them off for cancer research.
They mention in the study that there are more than 2 million different marine organisms. Indeed, the organisms that have been found to produce compounds with potential therapeutic effects for Parkinson's disease, turn out not to be specifically fish.
According to Table 1 in the research paper, the marine organisms that have been studied for their neuroprotective activities in the context of Parkinson's disease include sponges, fungi, seaweeds, corals, starfish, cnidarians, and bacteria. So Bolt_Upright no canned sardines...
That has been our diet for years , we don’t eat meat but love fish. However, someone posted here recently that fish was extremely toxic due to all the people in the world taking toxic medication, poo flushed into the sea etc etc. I don’t believe everything I read but this made sense x
Yes, I’m done with fish. We are just having baked potatoes/garlic mushrooms/salad and sprouts. Mushrooms are really good and offer a powerful antioxidant hit x
While research provides insights into the problems associated with α-synuclein aggregation, it does not yet offer specific solutions. Based on the described study, no specific advice has been given on how to prevent or repair the harmful effects of α-synuclein aggregation, as the role of α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease is not yet fully understood. Generally speaking, it is perhaps in any case important to strive for less manipulation of our food for both our individual well-being and the overall sustainability.
More likely that the region used a lot of pesticides which may have contaminated the water table and probably do use them in grain storage areas.( re high incidence of PD in Kerala)
My "protected " diet came from unusual terrain of a large land holding owned by my family . In fact the old place is being developed as a biodiversity museum by the current owner.
You do have a point about the genetic factors ; it s more than likely that mine is a new mutation in my generation and I did have dystonia as a child that I ignored. I probably would have been labelled as a YOPD but managed to evade seeing a doctor until I was 56.
I have already been screened for every PD associated gene. The list is too long to recount.
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