Just saw this on X (twitter). Its a video of a guy named Dr Bryan Ardis explaining how Nicotine is not a drug, it is a nutrient found in vegetables such as peppers and celery. At the 1:03 mark, he says
NICOTINE IS PROVEN TO PREVENT AND REVERSE PARKINSONS DISEASE ALL BY ITSELF.
Then he goes on to talk about other benefits of nicotine. And he says nicotine is not addictive, it is the chemical Pyrazine that makes it addictive. And he cites many medical articles. You can believe it, or not, if you dont want to. But its certainly worth exploring further.
As I was posting this, I searched for more information and found this podcast by him, for you to peruse at your leisure.
The Dr. Ardis Show | Episode 03.11.2024 - Healing Parkinson's Disease
Note - credibility issue - he sells supplements. Claims Taurine, Selenium and Foreign Protien Cleanse product, which he sells, cures Parkinsons, too. And he claims its all backed by research.
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My dad had PD and he chain smoked from his time in the coast guard after high school) until late into PD when he also got COPD and lung cancer. It nether prevented nor cured him but it did give him COPD/lung cancer.
Im so sorry about your dad. Cigarettes are really bad. However, there's safer ways to ingest nicotine. For example, Vegetables such as peppers, celery, eggplant, tomato, potato, cauliflower and zuccinin all contain nicotine. Also, nicotine patches, gum and pouches do not contain the carcinogens found in tobacco, nor do they cause lung diseases.
They did a study in 2023: Transdermal Nicotine Treatment and Progression of Early Parkinson’s Disease - evidence.nejm.org/doi/full/...
Methods
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial, we randomly assigned patients with Parkinson’s disease, diagnosed within 18 months, who were in Hoehn and Yahr disease stage less than or equal to 2 (range from 0 to 5; higher scores indicate greater impairment), who were therapy naïve (except for stable monoamine-oxidase-B inhibition), and not requiring dopaminergic therapy, to transdermal nicotine or placebo. The primary end point was change in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale parts I–III (Total UPDRS) score (range from 0 to 172; higher scores indicate greater impairment) between baseline and 60 weeks (52 weeks of trial therapy, 8 weeks of washout). The first secondary end point was change in Total UPDRS from baseline to 52 weeks. Differences between groups were estimated using the Hodges–Lehmann (HL) method and tested with the exact two-sided stratified Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon test according to the intention-to-treat principle.
Results
Among 163 participants, 101 were assessed for the primary end point. Mean worsening of Total UPDRS was 3.5 in the placebo versus 6.0 in the nicotine group (HL-difference with 95% CI: –3 [–6 to 0], P=0.06). For the first secondary end point, analysis of 138 participants showed a mean worsening of 5.4 in the placebo versus 9.1 in the nicotine group (HL-difference with 95% CI: –4 [–7 to –1]). Dropout was mainly because of early treatment discontinuation or adverse events. Cutaneous adverse effects at the patch application site were common. In all, 34.6% of participants initiated dopaminergic therapy during participation.
Conclusions
One-year transdermal nicotine treatment did not slow progression in early Parkinson’s disease. (Funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01560754; EudraCT number, 2010-020299-42.)
I like this part: "Ardis, for example, recites some of the claims that he’s made before about remdesivir, falsely claiming that it’s a “toxic, deadly drug” being used to purposely poison people. As if to prove this point, the video misleadingly shows a table from a paper in which 53% of patients treated with remdesivir died. But that comes from a trial of patients with Ebola virus disease and does not show that those patients died because of the drug."
And, further more, "Using maneuvers like that throughout the video, Ardis presents a wide-ranging conspiracy theory, in which he suggests that the pandemic has actually been a plot carried out by the Catholic Church and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to poison people with snake venom."
I tried the nicotine patch thing and did find it helped a lot. i’m having a break from them at the moment. I encountered no negative effects or addictiveness. Mr Ardis may have a few valid points, so I say don’t knock it until you’ve tried it and don’t bother shooting someone down, unless you are in full knowledge which none of you are, mostly you are all sick and trying to find the solution. supporting each other is better.
I love your response! What a breath of fresh air.. I ordered some free nicotine patches from Tobacco Free Florida. Also trying the zyn pouches. Good luck, friend!
I, for one, did not denegrate the use of the nicotine patch, even tho the study linked says it is not effective. I am glad, and don't doubt, it has helped you and has helped others here.
I refered to his claim that it "cures" PD, which you must acknowledge it does not, but mostly I reject him as credible because of his claims such as "...he suggests that the pandemic has actually been a plot carried out by the Catholic Church and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to poison people with snake venom."
I believe by making such claims, he is looking for attention to help sell stuff.
No problem at all. And by the way, I was calm and I’m calm now I didn’t mean anything personal towards anyone either. I would certainly agree that nicotine would not be a cure. And would not support everything he says either. Though, it did lead me to some fascinating lines of enquiry. One of the most interesting things here is when people are trying things and getting some good results. I’m the kind of person that Readily self experiments and it has been a good strategy overall. I have discarded quite a number of things that did not seem to do anything useful.
I don’t want to get in any argument with anyone about nicotine. Lately I’ve been able to actually reduce my c/l drastically replace it with nicotine.
I believe nicotine works only when you’re calm. It’s a neural stimulant And accentuates whatever you’re feeling. That is why the study failed IMO. The reason I say that is because it only only works when I am calm. Levodopa works both when I’m calm.( way better) and when I’m upset. Nicotine makes it worse when I’m not calm…. I hope this makes sense. Maybe it’s just accentuating placebo??? But what if Parkinson’s is a mental disorder?
During my darkest days, I actually used ketamine through my psychiatrist for depression. I did around 12 treatments in total. 11 of those experiences positive, but one really bad experience. I was late getting to the treatment and very stressed. Accentuated my stress and anxiety.
I’ve lived long enough, but I know that most people don’t like to change their minds. Nicotine has been used for thousands of years medicinally. I don’t condone using tobacco. It’s addictive and causes cancer. Paul Newhouse, a leading neuroscientist and nicotine researcher chews it every day.
I found that the carnivore diet with nicotine gives me best quality of life. The diet keeps me calm and the nicotine accentuates it.
I know the Dr at Stanford studying lithium said nicotine has been shown to slightly worsen PD. He said tobacco has over 500 substances in it. Tobacco absorbs minerals and other substances at high rate. Hypothesis is lithium is ingredient in tobacco that helps but apparently that is not panning out for most. Lithium helps. greatly my genetic type of PD however. They have no idea really what substance in tobacco is helping.
I had good results with nicotine patches and unclear results with tobacco. So yes, there is a massive difference in the number of compounds in tobacco, nicotine being just one
My husband is a week into his nicotine patch trial. We ordered 25mg patch and cut into 4, he puts one on in the morning and takes it off before tea. This was even recommend to him by the neurologist consultant when he has his cannabis clinic reviews three monthly, she said her patients have had good results with it. 4 weeks ago he had a discectomy due to a herniated disk last September so he has been unable to do his excercise regime etc since then. Over the last week I have noticed a change, more motivation, get up and go, moving quicker, thinking clearer, planning the day, overall just mentally better. He has noticed this too and says he comes on faster, can walk quicker without thinking of steps, he gets up easier to the loo at night, he doesn’t need any pain meds for his back and says he can’t put his finger on it but his whole mind is sharper and focused. With his recent back injury he had been in a real slump mentally and he really couldn’t do much at all except potter around. He will keep using the patch and he’s ordered some gum to see if it helps before an event that would stress him out like going to a mall or appointment.
That's really great! I saw a doctor just this morning for an annual physical, and I mentioned this nicotine thing. He said it's a powerful nootropic and he is all for it! Another green light!
With regard to whether he can reduce meds etc, he may try that down the track.He takes a lot of CL at present as he has a short duration response, taking 1.5 CL from 6am - 7pm 3 hourly with a half tablet at the two hour mark. Before bed he uses CR sinemet and thc/cbd 10/10 which works very well . During the night he usually wakes 2-3 am and he’ll take another CR and sinemet if needed. Besides that he sleeps well generally. Also since starting melatonin 0.3 mg CR before bed and a 1mg IR if he wakes, he doesn’t move around in bed hardly at all. When this acting out at night was brought up at a neuro appointment last year (not the cannabis clinic one) he wanted to give him quetiapine for gods sake, I sternly said no and we got him onto the melatonin which has good effect. Good luck with the nicotine if you decide to trial it yourself.
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I didn’t mean anything personal towards anyone either. I would certainly agree that nicotine would not be a cure. And would not support everything he says either. Though, it did lead me to some fascinating lines of enquiry. One of the most interesting things here is when people are trying things and getting some good results. I’m the kind of person that Readily self experiments and it has been a good strategy overall. I have discarded quite a number of things that did not seem to do anything useful.
B12 May Slow Progression and Maintain Cognitive Function 
THE THIRD MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW
New to Parkinson's? Or not new, but tired of taking supplement that don't improve Parkinson's cardinal symptoms of bradykinesia and tremor?
