PARKINSON'S DISEASE
A Holistic Therapy
By Walter Last
Parkinson's disease,
formerly also called Paralysis agitans or Shaking palsy, is a disease of the
central nervous system. Characteristic symptoms are tremors or shaking of one or
both arms and sometimes of other muscles. Generally muscles are weak and rigid,
movements slow and the face expressionless, also the voice becomes weak.
Typically the walk is with slow, short, shuffling steps, the arms held stiffly
at the sides and the trunk slightly bent forward, the patient may spontaneously
break into a shuffling run.
The onset of the disease is
gradual and progression of symptoms usually slow. It may start with a mild
shaking of the hands or involuntary nodding of the head. The mental abilities
usually remain unimpaired, however, as the disease progresses there may be
frequent mood changes, withdrawal and depression. The disease commonly starts
in middle-aged and elderly individuals and seems to affect predominantly males.
However, high exposure to environmental chemicals and drugs, such as certain
tranquillisers and antihypertensives, inorganic iron, aluminium and carbon
monoxide can induce an early onset of Parkinson-like symptoms. The symptoms of
Parkinson's disease are partly due to a loss of brain cells in specific areas
and partly to a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine that helps to transmit
signals across the tiny gaps between neighbouring nerve cells.
The medical cause of these
brain changes is not known. The main medical treatment consists in providing a
drug, L-dopa or levodopa, which can be converted in the brain to dopamine. In
addition, there are a variety of dopamine-sparing drugs and others that
stimulate dopamine receptors. However, this treatment is not always effective,
especially in advanced conditions and the long-term deterioration continues
unchecked or may even be speeded up. Side effects include involuntary jerky
movements, hypotension, nausea, anorexia, vomiting and disturbance of the
mental equilibrium. Long-term treatment may result in neurotic and psychotic
symptoms. These are probably due to an oxidation product of L-dopa, dopachrome, accumulating in the brain; for a similar reason
schizophrenics deteriorate when given L-dopa.
A new and somewhat
controversial operation has been used to graft part of an adrenal gland into
the brain. This temporarily stimulates the dopamine production in the brain.
However, frequent side effects are even more severe psychotic and neurotic
symptoms and personality changes than with L-dopa treatment. The reason is
assumed to be the accumulation of adrenochrome, an oxidation product of
adrenalin, in addition to the dopachrome.
Adrenochrome is an even stronger hallucinogen than dopachrome.
As in schizophrenia, high doses of niacin and ascorbic acid can minimise or
prevent hallucinogenic symptoms. Another type of brain surgery has been
experimentally used to reduce excessive shaking and involuntary movements.
Besides L-dopa also other
drugs, including benserazide, carbidopa
and isonizid have been reported to produce symptoms,
which respond to increased niacin intake. Parkinsonism can also result from
brain arteriosclerosis, stroke, head injury and after
encephalitis or influenza. However, no such causative factors are known for the
classical Parkinson's disease that is, therefore, called idiopathic.
NUTRITIONAL FACTORS
The neurotransmitter
dopamine is formed in the nerve cells of the brain from the amino acid tyrosine
with L-dopa as an intermediary stage. Tyrosine can be obtained from food or
synthesised from another amino acid, phenylalanine. Therefore, tyrosine and
phenylalanine can be used as nutritional supplements to ensure that the brain
has sufficient raw material for the synthesis of dopamine.
In an experimental study it
has been shown that supplementation with 100 mg /kg /day or about 6 - 7 g of
tyrosine increased the dopamine formation in the brain of patients with Parkinson' s disease. Also supplementation with
D-phenylalanine helped: 15 patients received 100 - 250 mg twice daily and
examination after 4 weeks revealed significant improvement in rigidity,
walking, speech and depression but not with tremors.
L-dopa treatment tends to
create a brain deficiency of the amino acid tryptophan, which results in
depression and other side effects. Several studies show that patients benefit
with mood improvement and functional abilities when given tryptophan in
addition to L-dopa.
Also ascorbic acid helps to
counteract the severe side effects of L-dopa. A double-blind study is described
of a patient who could not tolerate L-dopa because of severe nausea. If the
drug was supplemented with ascorbic acid his condition greatly improved while
every time he received a placebo instead of vitamin C his condition rapidly
deteriorated.
Other studies also show the
benefits of vitamin E supplementation. Even better is the result if several
antioxidants are used together. In one study the time until levodopa treatment
became necessary was delayed for 5.5 years in a group of newly diagnosed
patients receiving 3000 mg per day each of vitamin C and E as compared to a
group without supplementation.
Vitamin B6 is essential for
the synthesis of dopamine. Therefore, this vitamin, together with its cofactor
zinc, should be provided in high amounts to overcome long-term deficiency
symptoms and stimulate the production of dopamine. While there is also a
negative report, various other studies show varying degrees of benefits from
vitamin B6 supplements. In one study supplementation of 10 – 100 mg of
vitamin B6 daily resulted in decreased cramps, rigidity and tremors and
improvement in 8 cases out of 19 in walking and bladder control. In another
study 5 out of 11 patients improved and out of 90 cases 10% had permanent
improvement, another report found improvement in 9 cases out of 10. Improvement
generally was more frequent in cases of shorter duration and least pronounced
in long-standing conditions. Of course, improvements from vitamin B6
supplementation would be limited by existing deficiencies in zinc and tyrosine
or phenylalanine as well as other cofactors in dopamine synthesis.
In addition, it should be
noted that when taken together with L-dopa, vitamin B6 stimulates production of
dopamine from the provided L-dopa in other parts of the body with less L-dopa
reaching the brain and a decreased effectiveness. This may be a factor causing
negative findings in some experimental studies. However, this
less of a problem if L-dopa is used together with a decarboxylase inhibitor as
in Madopar or Sinemet. Nevertheless, with higher doses of vitamin B6 it
is advisable to take the vitamin either at the end of the day after the last
levodopa or during the day in smaller amounts about an hour after taking
levodopa and several hours before the next lot.
While the level of dopamine
in the brain of aging individuals and especially with Parkinson's disease
declines to about half its normal level, the coloured oxidation products of
dopamine and of other neurotransmitters increasingly accumulate. In one study
very high amounts of such coloured deposits were found in a specific area of
the brain after L-dopa treatment as compared to Parkinson patients without
L-dopa treatment.
In addition, other oxidised
substances, especially lipids and proteins, accumulate in cells, including
nerve cells. These accumulations of oxidation products in the skin are known as
'age spots' or 'liver spots'. Such age pigments are composed of lipofuscin,
ceroid and amyloid and begin filling up the nerve cells until they are killed
when residue levels reach up to 70%. Accumulations of age pigments may be an
important factor in the decline of the numbers of nerve cell in the brain of
Parkinson patients. An additional factor is suspected to be the autoxidation of
dopamine, which also yields hydrogen peroxide and free radicals, which damage
the dopamine receptors. The accumulation of age pigments can be largely
prevented and partially reversed by long-term supplementation with high amounts
of antioxidants; preferably combined with periodic cleansing diets.
Manganese is important for
muscle and brain functions. A case has been reported of an elderly male with
initial signs of lupus erythematosus developing Parkinson's disease and some
years later also signs of myasthenia gravis. With a therapy based on manganese
and vitamin E symptoms of all three diseases quickly disappeared. However, a
prolonged overload of manganese resulting in manganese poisoning has the
opposite effect; it causes Parkinson-like symptoms.
Besides stimulation of
dopamine production, vitamin B6 has a beneficial effect on tremors. In one
study all 60 patients with Parkinson's disease had a significant decrease and
12 a complete disappearance of tremors with 300 - 400 mg of vitamin B6. The
same applies to magnesium, which has been reported to relieve or stop severe
trembling and twitching. In addition, magnesium relieves muscle rigidity and
cramps. Magnesium is the classical relaxation mineral. The sulphur amino acid
taurine works together with magnesium and seems to have a sedating effect on
the overstimulated movement center in the brain that
causes shaking.
Some other supplements with
reported benefits in Parkinson's disease are L-carnitine, octacosanol
and evening primrose oil. L-carnitine helps to increase energy production by
channelling fatty acids into cells; it also improves memory and possibly other
brain functions. Octacosanol is a long-chain lipid
concentrated from wheat-germ oil. It generally increases endurance and some
Parkinson patients responded with improvement in their daily living activities
and mood. Evening primrose oil, on the other hand, may help to reduce tremors.
Involuntary movements may be reduced with antioxidants, lecithin and manganese.
Recently reported research
suggests that Parkinson patients release too much of the neurotransmitter
nitric oxide. This is a small molecule produced from the amino acid arginine
and is vital in the regulation of blood flow and blood pressure. This appears
to be an important finding, and efforts have started to develop a drug to
correct this. However, the amino acid L-lysine is in an antagonistic balance
with L-arginine. Increased lysine levels will generally reduce the amount of
released nitric oxide. Therefore I would experimentally use supplemental
lysine, say about 1 g three times daily before meals. You may also try smaller
and larger amounts. I do not expect this to interfere with the simultaneous use
of levodopa.
For patients on L-dopa the
meal composition is important. With meals high in protein less l-dopa reaches
the brain through the blood-brain barrier and Parkinson-like symptoms may
result. After a meal high in carbohydrates, on the other hand, more L-dopa
reaches the brain and dyskinesia (uncontrolled movements) may develop.
Therefore, drug intake should be adjusted to the type of the meal. The best way
is to eat the main protein meal in the evening after the last daily dose of
levodopa. Increased levels of ascorbic acid and vitamin B6 increase dopamine
levels in the brain.
CHEMICALS AND ENDOTOXINS
Evidence is now
accumulating which supports the view that Parkinson's disease can originate
from long-term subclinical damage to the nervous system from environmental
chemicals. Initial reports linked the development of some forms of Parkinson's
disease mainly to medical drugs and to industrial workers exposed to chemicals.
This includes especially the exposure to industrial solvents.
More recent reports also
show a link between the use of pesticides and herbicides on farms and this
disease. Development of symptoms due to low-level chronic exposure is gradual.
For instance the symptoms of a farmer ascribed to chemical spraying progressed
over an eight-year period to bilateral Parkinsonism. Researchers have suggested
that long-term exposure to sub-toxic levels of chemicals is much more likely to
lead to neurological disorders, such as Parkinsonism, than to physically based
diseases.
A recent study found that
mice developed symptoms of Parkinson's disease when injected with low levels of
two common farm chemicals, the herbicide paraquat and the fungicide maneb.
Neither of these on their own caused any problems.
A study at
Several studies also found
that patients with Parkinson's disease have much lower levels of detoxifying
enzymes than healthy individuals, only about 30% of normal levels were present.
This means that toxic chemicals in such individuals accumulate much more than
in those with normal liver functions. These chemicals are fat-soluble and,
therefore, are stored in lipid structures such as the brain.
A contributing factor
greatly facilitating the passage of toxic chemicals into the brain is
aluminium. The brain is normally protected from undesirable chemicals in the bloodstream
by a filter barrier. High aluminium levels have been shown to allow toxic
chemicals to cross this barrier, which would otherwise be kept out. In
addition, aluminium itself has neurotoxic properties. Aluminium inhibits the
synthesis of important brain chemicals and it has the potential to block
nucleic acid metabolism within nerve cells and to interfere with magnesium in
the regulation of neurotransmitter receptors. The brain deterioration in
Alzheimer's disease is strongly linked to aluminium accumulations in brain
cells.
The injection of aluminium
salts into the fluid surrounding the brain initiates degenerative brain
changes, and aluminium levels in the brain of cats similar to the levels in
Alzheimer's disease causes learning difficulties for the cats. There is an
unusually high rate of motoneuron disease and Parkinson's disease in the
indigenous population of
Our main intake of
aluminium comes from cooking utensils, antacids, some baking powders, municipal
water supplies and aerosol sprays. Encephalopathy has been clinically induced
in dialysis patients through aluminium overload with mental deterioration and the
EEG suggesting movement disorders.
Further brain deterioration
can be caused by accumulations of the heavy metals cadmium, lead and mercury.
Of these, mercury is generally the greatest brain hazard, coming mainly from
amalgam tooth fillings. Organic mercury compounds are strong nerve poisons,
which may kill nerve cells, cause tremors and reportedly also symptoms of
multiple sclerosis. The problem is worse with two or more different kinds of
metal in the mouth which cause micro-currents that interfere with nerve
functions, and also the presence of different toxic metals in the brain greatly
potentises their harmful effects. Finally, iron
overload, especially in inorganic form, can intensify Parkinson problems.
Hidden food allergies and
chemical sensitivities contribute to most degenerative diseases. However, in
Parkinson's disease the body generally is insensitive and does not readily
react even when specifically testing for hidden allergies. Nevertheless, it has
been shown that the intestinal barrier becomes increasingly inefficient with
advancing age and degenerative diseases. This allows only partly digested
protein fragments or peptides to enter the bloodstream and reach the brain,
causing chronic Inflammation and long-term degeneration of brain cells.
Instead of reacting
directly to allergy testing, food allergies and chemical sensitivities may be
noticed as higher L-dopa requirements, gradual worsening of symptoms or
increase of dysfunctional periods. After many years on levodopa, I noticed one
patient being sensitive to the blue colouring of the standard Sinemet tablets
with pronounced improvement when other tablets with a different colour were
used. I suspect that many patients of all kinds of diseases deteriorate because
of the unbiological colours and preservatives used in tablet making.
A study found that copper
levels are significantly higher in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with
idiopathic Parkinson's disease than in a control group. While the specific
reason for the elevated copper levels are not known, these are generally high
when there is a chronic inflammation as caused by auto-immune and hidden
allergy reactions. Furthermore, a copper enzyme is required to convert tyrosine
into levodopa and elevated brain copper levels may be an attempt to stimulate
levodopa production. However, high copper levels in the presence of antioxidant
deficiencies tend to cause increased free-radical damage to the DNA of nerve
cells.
These considerations show
the importance of adopting a long-term low-allergy diet in the treatment of
Parkinson's disease and to have a high intake of antioxidant nutrients that
prevent free-radical damage. Endotoxins are toxic chemicals produced by harmful
intestinal bacteria. Undesirable changes in the composition of the intestinal
flora and resulting overgrowth of the small intestine with undesirable bacteria
and fungi commonly results from antibiotics and other immune-suppressive drugs,
from low gastric acidity and from frequently drinking alcohol.
In addition drugs, such as
aspirin and also alcohol as well as allergic inflammations of the intestinal
walls allow not only partly digested food fragments but also bacterial
endotoxins to pass into the bloodstream and eventually into the brain where
they act as neurotoxins. If the body is still sufficiently sensitive as usually
in younger individuals neurotoxins tend to produce acute psychotic symptoms
while with advancing age and insensitive bodies neurotoxins cause chronic nerve
degeneration from the destruction of nerve and brain cells.
Normally, the liver acts as
am additional filter and barrier against the invasion of internal organs by
endotoxins. However, a persistently high influx of endotoxins combined with
either food or chemical allergies or deficiencies of protective nutrients cause
the liver to degenerate, thereby losing its detoxifying abilities. There are
many studies showing the connection between intestinal bacteria, endotoxins,
liver damage and finally diseases of the central nervous system. Therefore, the
central medical feature of Parkinson's disease may well be liver damage caused
either by environmental chemicals and drugs by hidden allergies and endotoxins
or by a combination of these factors.
This means that the
treatment of Parkinson's disease should focus on improving liver functions by
substituting the outlined negative factors for positive ones. This entails the
living in an unpolluted environment, eating low-allergy food which is free of
agricultural and added food chemicals, avoiding alcohol and unnecessary drugs,
drinking clean water, normalising the intestinal flora with a high intake of
raw food and additional cultures of acidophilus and bifido-bacteria and using a
high level of antioxidant and detoxifying nutrients in addition to specific
natural therapies to regenerate the liver. Furthermore the blood circulation to
the brain should be improved. A diet high in chlorinated water, sugar, fat and
oxidised cholesterol leads to arteriosclerosis while even a single fatty meal
impairs the blood airflow to the brain for several hours after the meal.
A MORE EFFECTIVE
LEVODOPA THERAPY
After several years
levodopa usually begins to lose its effectiveness and higher and higher doses
are required with increasing side effects. This becomes a vicious cycle in
which after 10 to 20 years the drug becomes more or less ineffective, causing
either spastic uncontrolled movements or long periods of rigidity. This
negative spiral can be avoided or reversed by a different way of administering
levodopa.
The eventual loss of
effectiveness and increasing side effects appear to result mainly from the
oxidation of dopamine and storage of these toxic products in brain cells,
possibly blocking dopamine receptors. By trying to use always enough levodopa
to prevent off-periods, the brain becomes overloaded with toxic or obstructive
breakdown products.
Therefore, to prevent the
accumulation of breakdown products, the brain needs regular rest periods from
levodopa. This may be done by withholding levodopa every day at bedtime and
re-introducing it the following morning when the body seems to require it. With
low and moderate requirements for levodopa this is no problem and many patients
may do it like this anyway. The main problem is, of course, with those on high
levodopa intakes and frequent on - off periods. Try the following method.
Take the last levodopa of
the day so that you can expect withdrawal symptoms or an off period to start
when you want to go to bed. To ease symptoms take the following supplements
together with the last levodopa of the day. Start with the indicated doses but
if not fully effective, experiment with different dosages and combinations as
well as different ingredients that you may want to try out.
In advanced conditions you
may initially experience a period of uncontrolled movements followed by a
period of rigidity. After an hour or two your body should relax and you
hopefully fall asleep. During the night and in the morning you may be fully
mobile without any disabling side effects. However, your energy level will be
lower then when switched on levodopa and it will progressively get lower during
the morning. During this time the body operates on dopamine stored in the brain
from excess levodopa levels while being switched on.
As an alternative method
you may take sufficient levodopa before bedtime that your withdrawal occurs
when you are asleep. If you can fall asleep in this way and do not wake up
during the night with withdrawal symptoms, then this might be the preferred
method for you.
As soon as possible after
rising have a strong coffee and the following supplements, all designed
to stimulate natural dopamine production in order to delay the start of the
daily levodopa therapy.
Try to delay the first
levodopa tablet of the day for as long as possible, but once started take it in
sufficiently close intervals to prevent any unexpected withdrawal symptoms
before the scheduled nightly withdrawal.
With continued therapy
withdrawal symptoms hopefully will ease and ideally you may just fall asleep
without noticing distressing symptoms. Also tremors during the day and
psychiatric and behavioural problems should gradually ease or disappear.
Sufficient magnesium helps to overcome rigidity, tremors, constipation and
insomnia while sufficient antioxidants combined with nightly withdrawal of
levodopa help to overcome psychiatric and behavioural problems.
In order to keep the
nightly withdrawal period as short as possible, it may be important to let the
levodopa level drop steeply after the last tablet. It appears that there is a
range of brain levodopa levels within which uncontrolled movements are most
likely. To move quickly through this range, do not take the last tablet after a
longer time interval than previous tablets, do not take a lower dose with the
last tablet, do not take a long-acting tablet in the afternoon and avoid any
unscheduled withdrawal during the day. However, conditions may be different for
you, just experiment. Any of these, as well as emotional, nutritional or
chemical stress can increase symptoms.
Parkinson's disease is
strongly linked to pesticides and food additives, especially synthetic
colouring. Therefore, make an overall effort to live as chemical-free as
possible, but in addition have a test period for several weeks where you are
very strict in avoiding all potentially harmful influences. Buy and use only
organically grown food and use filtered or distilled water. Minimise any
chemical air pollution, including cigarette smoke. Instead of taking coloured
tablets, use capsules with white powder. That means if you are on Sinemet
tablets, switch temporarily to Madopar 200/50 capsules and ingest only the
powder itself without the coloured gelatine capsules. Alternatively,
temporarily replace the blue 250 mg Sinemet tablets with the yellow 100 mg
tablets. If you improve during this time, re-introduce your usual foods one by
one to find out which items cause problems and avoid these in future.
Annetta Freeman cured herself of
Parkinson's disease with an extensive (and expensive) supplement program.
Unfortunately, some of the supplements are no longer available due to the
action of health authorities. Nevertheless see her articles on www.ceri.com and specifically www.ceri.com/parkpage.htm .
Drug
The best way to improve
advanced Parkinson's disease, especially if levodopa therapy is no longer
effective, is to have a 'drug holiday'. This should improve the response to
levodopa and reduce any side effects. It may ideally be done in a health
retreat but is possible at home. It is best to wait with this until the proposed
drug, supplement and diet program is already in effect for several weeks or
months. For up to one week try to leave off all levodopa, while continuing with
a high intake of supplements and fresh vegetable juice, preferably including
ample grass juice or alternatively barley grass juice powder.
Oxygen therapy may be
helpful, especially in the form of a good or medical type air ioniser. Also an
oxygen mask can be very helpful when not on daily levodopa therapy, and may
greatly reduce the need for levodopa; however it is detrimental while on daily
levodopa, as it causes dopamine to be oxidised at an increased rate, thereby
intensifying drug side effects.
Deprenyl or Selegeline
Deprenyl is a selective mono-amine oxidase
inhibitor that slows the breakdown of dopamine in the brain, thereby reducing
the need for levodopa by up to 30% and greatly extending the time after
diagnosis of Parkinson's disease before levodopa therapy is required. However,
this levodopa-sparing effect gradually diminishes with long-term use. There is
also evidence that it has a protective effect on brain cells as compared to
levodopa, which appears to lead to more rapid deterioration. I prefer deprenyl to any of the other Parkinson drugs.
Deprenyl got a bad press from a report in
1995 by the P.D. Research Group of the
THE DIET
The following diet
recommendations are offered as an ideal to show in which direction to proceed.
It is up to you to decide how fast and how far to move in the indicated
direction.
The main principle is to
use an abundance of nutrients with the ability to regenerate the body, and
especially the brain. This means the diet should be predominantly fresh, raw
and organic. Most of the brain, nervous system and cell walls consist of
unsaturated fatty acids and other lipids, such as lecithin. Therefore, unheated
fats and oils are a top priority. Most beneficial are the omega-3 fatty acids
in fish oils, and arachidonic acid and phospholipids in raw egg yolk. Also good
are high-quality linseed or flaxseed oil, extra virgin olive oil and fresh
coconut milk. Raw fats and oils also help to detoxify the body in a gentle way.
Next in importance are unheated proteins, including (minced) meat from
free-ranging or organically raised animals, fish and other seafood, sprouted or
fermented seeds, spirulina, pollen and ground linseed. For details see the High-Quality Diet and the Raw Food
Diet. As protein can interfere with the absorption of levodopa, it is best
to have just protein snacks or small protein portions during the day and a
bigger protein meal in the evening after taking the last levodopa of the day.
Always take levodopa 20 to 30 minutes before any protein.
Other beneficial foods are bone broth (see
Recipes), purple foods and fresh vegetable and grass juice, use uncontaminated water. Avoid or minimize foods
that are restricted in the High-Quality Diet.
Supplements
You may try the following
supplement program, and adjust it to your needs. Soon after rising take a
multivitamin-mineral tablet, 1 g of the amino acid L-tyrosine (before any
food), 1-3 g of vitamin C, 500 mg of natural vitamin E as tablet, grape seed
extract, L-carnitine, the herbs ginkgo biloba, brahmi,
ginseng, and any other remedy that may increase energy levels. Shortly
afterwards take a spoonful of spirulina with 2 spoonfuls of bee pollen in some
juice.
At lunchtime again take
vitamin C, E, grape seed extract and possibly ginkgo biloba, brahmi and ginseng. With the evening meal or with the last
levodopa of the day take 500 mg of magnesium as chelate or magnesium chloride,
1 g of the amino acid L-tryptophane (take before food), 1-3 g of vitamin C, 500
mg of vitamin E and grape seed extract. Instead of tryptophane you may get
similar benefit from 500 mg of niacinamide.
As a general rule, take 500
- 1000 mg of the amino acid tyrosine before meals whenever you are not on
levodopa at the time in order to stimulate dopamine production. Experiment with
a multivitamin-mineral tablet with lunch and evening meal; continue using it
only if it seems to be beneficial.
Shaking may improve with
high amounts of vitamin B6 (up to 500 mg daily) and magnesium (up to 1000 mg)
in divided doses and gradually increasing amounts. However, high amounts of
vitamin B6 interfere with levodopa medication, and you may need to stop using
it while experimenting with vitamin B6. During stressful periods you may keep a
lightly chewed tablet of 400 mg magnesium orotate in the mouth.
Various other supplements
may be tried to improve vigour and wellbeing. Take a capsule of shark or
halibut liver oil with most meals; additional magnesium as well as kelp,
lecithin and ground linseed (keep refrigerated). Use additional selenium if it
is not provided with the trace mineral supplement.
The herb milk thistle helps
to improve liver functions. In advanced conditions vitamin B12 (1000 mcg) may
initially be injected once a week, or a vitamin B12 tablet may be absorbed
under the tongue. Royal Jelly may help regenerating the body; take it before
meals. Coenzyme Q10 improves energy production; the herbs Ginkgo biloba, Brahmi and Fo-ti-tieng are
specific brain and gland tonics. Not all of these need to be taken, just try
out what is available and see what works best for you. Also experiment with
other supplements that appeal to you.
Increase amount and variety
of supplements gradually and after improvement reduce to a comfortable
maintenance dose. The more you adopt the suggested raw food diet the less
supplements may be required. Various Bach Flower Remedies and other Flower
Remedies may be used to improve the emotional response. Also see www.ceri.com/parkpage.htm for a comprehensive
and successful supplement program.
ADDITIONAL THERAPY
Clean your body of microbes
and parasites by using a Beck-type electronic zapper and magnetic pulser; see
the article Electronic Zapper & Magnetic Pulser.
Initially use the pulser for only a few pulses on the spine and top of the
head, as this may produce a strong reaction. Gradually extend the exposure time
depending on your body reactions.
To ease tremors and muscle
rigidity have a hot magnesium chloride or Epsom salts bath about once a week.
Buy a fertiliser bag of magnesium salts and use half to one kg of it for each
bath. Use just enough water to cover the body to make it as strong as possible.
After the bath it is beneficial to wrap yourself in sheets and blankets and
induce sweating.
Preferably have regular
professional deep tissue massage, alternatively a friend or relative may press
hard into tense muscles, hold the pressure for a minute or two and knead tense
muscles. In addition have gentle relaxing massages. Also have foot reflexology
done, especially pressing the brain and neck areas around the big toes, all of
the spine, the liver and abdominal reflex areas (see Reflexology)
and wherever you find a spot that is tender when pressed. Repeat this once or
twice a week.
To improve the blood flow
to the brain try sleeping with the head lower than the feet, e.g. raise the
foot end of the bed by the height of one or two bricks. Also build or acquire a
slant-board on which you can rest and meditate with the head considerably lower
than the strapped feet. Alternatively, you may acquire inversion equipment to
hang upside down.
Frequently do deep
breathing-tensing exercises: inhale deeply while tensing all muscles, hold for
several seconds and exhale while fully relaxing. Repeat this frequently during
the day. Another important exercise is to circle the head 10 - 20 times in each
direction, also try to let the head drop with a jerk to each side.
Preferably have your neck
vertebrae and spine checked by an osteopath or chiropractor and adjusted if
required. Intentional vigorous shaking exercises help to reduce involuntary
shaking or tremors. You may do it with the arms, head and torso, but also in a
sitting or lying position with the legs in addition. At the same time breathe
very deep and fast. This will release a lot of built-up tension. However, when
you are resting, it helps you to relax if you intentionally breathe deeply but
very slowly with a long drawn-out exhalation and a pause between inhalation and
exhalation. After intentionally shaking and stopping the shaking, you may be
able to learn intentionally stopping involuntary shaking in the same way.
Practise meditation - mind
exercises daily, see Mind Tools. At first meditate
for 15 - 30 minutes or do a deep relaxation exercise and then visualise intense
white healing energy entering the top of your head, filling and revitalising
your brain. Imagine this healing energy repairing all faulty brain cells. You
may visualise the substantia nigra, where most of the dopamine is produced, as
a small, grey area deep within your brain. As you look more closely, you see a
mixture of white and black cells, the black ones producing dopamine and the
white cells being unable to produce it. Now, as the healing energy lights up
and fills your brain, more and more of the white cells become black while
starting to produce dopamine until the whole of the substantia nigra is now
black instead of grey.
In addition, see my
articles The Love Cure and Bio-Energies and try to learn and do the
recommended exercises, especially energising the brain, the crown chakra and
circulating the energies. Either do your own form of energising exercise or
learn one of the various forms of Qigong.
Then you imagine doing
various tasks that are usually causing problems. Visualise doing these tasks in
a perfect way, as you would like to do them that is without any tremors and with
good muscle coordination. During the day, whenever you encounter problems, or
want to perform a difficult task, close your eyes for a short period and
several times envisage performing the task in a perfect way. Then confidently
do it.
Janice Walton-Hadlock claims several complete cures and a large number of
substantial improvements using a Chinese type of bio-energy treatment combined
with acupuncture to restore proper energy flows along acupuncture meridians.
She believes the original cause of this energy blockage to be a foot injury,
but this blockage could also be due to emotional problems and that is what I
believe. Anyway, restoring the energy flows also seems to cure the emotional
problems as patients typically experience conscious panic attacks in the final
stages of recovery. From her website www.pdtreatment.com
you may download a book with instructions for therapists and another one for
patients. I also found the article by Clement Meadmore very good about learning to move without the
need for dopamine.
In order to normalise the
flow of energy through the acupuncture system you may experiment with meridian
therapy, tracing acupuncture meridians with your fingers, with magnets or with
your mind, see Acupressure & Meridian Therapy.
Most important appear to be the stomach, bladder and governing meridian.
Furthermore, deep needling of point DU16 (or Gv16) of the governing meridian at
the top of the spine (near the Atlas vertebra) was reported to be of great
benefit with Parkinson's disease. However, this point is very difficult and
dangerous to needle. Therefore you may try laser acupuncture,
electro-acupuncture, magnet treatment (try each pole separately for some time
and see which gives the better response) and press therapy on this point.
THE EMOTIONAL CAUSE
& CURE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE
I regard the emotional
component as the key to the cause and cure of genuine or idiopathic Parkinson's
disease. I have come to the conclusion that the real underlying cause is an
inappropriate response to panic situations. Instead of fighting or running away
in a situation of extreme danger, the Parkinson personality will freeze up and
'play dead'. One may be born with this trait or it may be acquired in this
lifetime.
If born with it, then in a
frightening situation already as a baby or small child this personality type
will freeze rather than scream and thresh about with arms and legs. There is a
'frozen panic' at the bottom of this personality, which causes them to move
fearfully through life. However, the affected individual or friends and family
members are usually not aware of this. Commonly it is covered by a rather rigid
and inflexible personality that tries to control events and conditions in order
not to be suddenly confronted by unexpected and potentially frightening
situations.
The following case history
may be typical for an acquired 'freeze-response'. This individual was a bomber
pilot during the Second World War. Over the
In the case of an
'inherited' freeze-response regression therapy revealed an experience in which
the patient was being burnt as a witch at the stake. Lately she had been so
afraid of fire that she even froze when just watching a fire on television.
After I suggested during regression that she mentally free herself of the ropes
and run away, she was no longer afraid of fire and her Parkinson symptoms
considerably improved.
My understanding of the
connection between an inappropriate panic response and Parkinson's disease is
about as follows. There is a two-way communication between the movement centres
in the brain and related muscles. While dopamine dependent nerve impulses
stimulate and control muscle action, there is also a communication from the
muscles to the brain, relating the responsiveness or ability of the muscles to
move. Muscles, like every other part of the body, retain a memory of past
traumas. This can be shown with regression and similar therapies. However, in
this case it is not just a mental memory, the real damage is done by 'frozen
emotions'.
The emotions are the
connecting link between the mental level and the bio-energy flows in the
acupuncture meridians. The frozen emotional energy slows the meridian flows in
the affected muscles and leads to increased rigidity and spasticity by
affecting neuromuscular receptors and other biochemical parameters. This in
turn leads to a reduced communication from the muscles to the brain, thus
weakening the energetic as well as biochemical structures of the muscle control
centres in the brain.
This makes these control
centres susceptible to other harmful influences, be it emotional stress,
vitamin-mineral deficiencies, endotoxins and microbes as well as chemical
toxicity from the environment. I also noticed a connection with dislocations in
the spine, which interfere with the movements of cerebrospinal fluid and
energies within the spine. A combination of all of these factors may gradually
lead to the degeneration of the substantia nigra and related structures.
Furthermore, it is known
from Reichian or bio-energetic bodywork that the
freezing of one important segment of the emotions leads to a general
suppression or inappropriate response to all emotions. If the affected
individual would start to feel strong negative emotions and especially anxiety,
there would be an imminent danger that the memory of the frozen panic could
awaken and emotionally overwhelm the mind and body. This must not happen and
the only way the individual can keep suppressing any arising strong and
potentially terrifying emotions is by tensing the affected muscles. While this
gradually leads to more and more emotional and bodily rigidity and maintains
the inappropriate body responses in the face of danger, this is the price that
the individual subconsciously is willing to pay for keeping the panic memory
from becoming conscious.
This basic underlying cause
of P.D. needs to be removed if one wants to have any real chance of overcoming
the disease. The key to removing the memory of the frozen panic from the body
is to become conscious of it and emotionally relive it. This may be done with
regression therapy, although one needs to be aware that there may be several
incidents in different time frames. As the subconscious mind is very reluctant
to revisit traumatic incidents, it needs to be firmly guided in the desired
direction and many attempts may have to be made. Most promising is likely to be
the exploration of the death experience in the previous incarnation. If
successful, then initially the panic-causing incident will only be contacted at
the mental or intellectual level. Repeated regressions need to lead deeper and
deeper into the emotional aspects of it until the full emotional impact can be
felt. This will be a terrifying experience with possibly strong bodily
manifestations and requires the presence of a competent therapist, guide or
helper.
Normally it will be
necessary to get a professional therapist who is experienced with regression
work. However, you may do some preliminary or additional work with the help of
a reliable friend as described in Mind Tools.
After a panic situation has been made conscious, it is equally important to
relive it again during regression with the suggestion to act appropriately now
and to use guided imagery for this purpose. In addition, use guided imagery
during relaxation or meditation periods to imagine using the body appropriately
in a variety of dangerous situations.
Until the individual
becomes fully aware of the hidden panic, he or she will continue to prevent
actually feeling anxiety and other negative emotions by increasing muscle
tension which in turn reinforces the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. With
this, the severity of Parkinson symptoms can fluctuate very much according to
the momentary emotional condition. While good nutrition and supplements can
more or less remove most of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and improve the
overall energy level, a real or complete cure should include both, emotional as
well as nutritional therapy.
Mark Hurni
made a great contribution to the understanding of the emotional component of
Parkinson's disease by observing his bodily reactions to emotional challenges.
He started developing symptoms of Parkinson's disease in 1990. Instead of using
drugs, he decided to try body-based psychological therapies to heal his
emotions. His web site makes interesting reading, see www.parkinsonforum.com.
However, the primary
mechanism by which frozen emotions cause Parkinson's disease is by blocking or
distorting energy flows in the acupuncture meridians and the crown chakra.
Regression in a case that I investigated more closely revealed freezing up
already as a baby in response to fearful situations. However, the symptoms of
Parkinson's disease appeared in adult life shortly after chiropractic
manipulation of the top vertebra or Atlas.
This close connection
between emotions and energy flows gives us the additional possibility to cure
this disease with acupuncture and bio-energy treatment as demonstrated by
Janice Walton-Hadlock. Instead of or in addition to
her methods you may experiment with acupressure, reflexology, meridian therapy,
Reiki and other types of energy healing. Whatever method you use, I believe
that it will be best to start with removing the blockage at the foot end of the
stomach meridian (St42) as identified by Janice. This involves gently holding
the patients ankles with opposite hands (right hand to left ankle and left hand
around right ankle) for extended periods. I believe it is best for a female to
work with a male patient and vice versa for a more effective exchange of
energy. Eventually the increased energy flows will automatically bring the
suppressed emotions up to the conscious level and thus remove their blocking
effect on the free flow of energies. Ideally, you may combine regression and
other mind therapies with bio-energy work, nutrition, suitable remedies and
cleansing for a concerted effort of holistic healing.
Warning: As Janice
Walton-Hadlock found and I can confirm it is very
dangerous to continue using levodopa after the patient has greatly improved. As
long as there is a genuine deficiency of dopamine there is no problem, but when
the patient has improved to a point where he or she can live without levodopa,
even if there is still profound weakness, then this drug becomes highly
addictive and it will be nearly impossible to withdraw from it. Dopamine is the
most addictive substance in the world.
I had a patient who came
back from “terminal” PD with 2500 mg of levodopa daily, to be for 6
weeks without the drug. But to get well quicker she started again taking it. Now
she was her normal self moving around freely in the morning before taking
levodopa, and afterwards she was a disabled PD patient with changed
personality. The more she increased the amount of levodopa the more she
deteriorated. Her relatives tried to get her into hospital for a drug
withdrawal under sedation. Her psychiatrist insisted that she first try EFEXOR,
an antidepressant, although she was not depressed. The first tablet that she
took caused strong uncontrolled movements and a few hours later she was dead.
SUMMARY
The original cause of Parkinson's
disease appears to be a blockage of energy flows in the acupuncture meridians
to and from the brain, mainly involving the governing and the stomach
meridians. Typically, this blockage was caused by an inappropriate panic
response, by freezing up instead of acting appropriately. However, it may also
be caused by an accident to the back of the head or the spine that more or less
blocks the energy flow up the spine along the governing meridian, commonly
involving injury to or displacement of the Atlas or top vertebra. In addition
there may be chemical injury to the movement centers
of the brain. Assessment of the emotional condition of the patient should be
able to determine whether the original cause was mainly emotional, chemical or
accidental.
In any case, restoring the
proper energy flows in the acupuncture meridians to and from the brain is able
to remove the emotional blockage as well. This process may be aided by suitable
emotional therapies. With proper nutritional support the brain may then begin
to regenerate. During recovery, symptoms may change. Tremors may disappear and
freezing up may be replaced by periods when the body appears to experience
panic attacks but without any inner feelings of anxiety or fear. These will
only be felt in the last stages of recovery.
In conclusion we may state
the main rule of Parkinson's disease as follows: Until anxiety and panic can be
felt at the emotional level and lead to appropriate physical action, they will
continue to manifest as the bodily symptoms of Parkinson's disease. To
summarise the main steps to reverse this disease:
For a related Parkinson
Protocol see http://www.lef.org.