Parkinson's Disease - Treatments/Prevention

These Substances may Alleviate, Prevent or Treat Parkinson's Disease

Alkaloids

 Caffeine may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[1]

 Recent studies indicate that Nicotine may be a useful treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[2]

Amino Acids

 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) [100 - 600 mg per day] may be a valuable adjutant therapy for Parkinson’s Disease.

 Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) is presently being studied as a treatment for Parkinson's Disease.  ^[3]

 Creatine Monohydrate is speculated to alleviate Parkinson’s Disease and it is presently undergoing investigation for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[4]

 Glutamic Acid may be useful in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease: 

 Although excessive Glutamic Acid has also been IMPLICATED in Parkinson’s Disease.

 L-Dopa (during the early course of the disease’s progression) minimizes the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (by functioning as a precursor for the endogenous production of Dopamine):  ^[5]

 Although L-Dopa provides substantial alleviation of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, it does not ultimately retard the progress of the disease - its effectiveness usually begins to decline after five to seven years.

 Although L-Dopa increases Dopamine levels, it does not rectify the damage to the Dopamine Receptors that is the fundamental cause of Parkinson’s Disease.

 L-Dopa, while stimulating Dopamine production, does NOT regenerate the damaged Dopaminergic Neurons that are fundamental to this disease and furthermore L-Dopa’s oxidative by-products may actually EXACERBATE the destruction of Dopaminergic Neurons.

 For these reasons, state-of-the-art advice to Parkinson’s patients excludes L-Dopa as a therapeutic measure - recent studies have found that Parkinson’s patients receiving L-Dopa have a shortened expected lifespan compared to those patients who do not receive L-Dopa.

 Tyrosine enhances the effectiveness of supplemental L-Dopa in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.

 Methionine (up to 5,000 mg per day) may improve many of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.  ^[6]

 N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease (due to the Antioxidant properties of NAC).  ^[7]

 Supplemental S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) is presently under investigation as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[8]

 Taurine may alleviate some aspects of Parkinson's Disease by sedating the Central Nervous System. 

 Theanine may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[9]

 Tryptophan may help to minimize the motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s Disease and may help to treat the Depression associated with Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[10]

 Tyrosine may be useful for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease (it may increase the turnover of Dopamine in Parkinson’s Disease patients and may enhance the effectiveness of supplemental L-Dopa in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease).  ^[11]

Carotenoids

 Astaxanthin may help to prevent Parkinson’s Diesease.  ^[12]

 Crocetin may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[13]

 Fucoidan may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease.  ^[14]

Coenzymes

 NADH may be more effective in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease than L-Dopa (clinical studies have shown that after Parkinson’s Disease patients have been administered NADH, 80% show moderate to excellent improvement):  ^[15]

 More importantly (than the initial improvements following NADH administration) is that those 80% of Parkinson’s patients who benefit from NADH are claimed to not further deteriorate while they continue to use NADH and most are able discontinue the use of L-Dopa after switching to NADH.

 Parkinson’s Disease patients exhibit diminished Complex I activity in the Mitochondria their Brain, Muscles and Platelets (NADH may help to rectify this Complex I deficit) - studies have shown a reduction of up to 37% in Complex I activity in Parkinson’s Disease patients.  ^[16]

 NADH may stimulate the production of Dopamine within the Brains of Parkinson’s Disease patients.

Enzymes

 Parkinson’s Disease patients have a significant reduction in the activity of Tyrosine Hydroxylase (the enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of Tyrosine to L-Dopa).  ^[17]

Growth Factors

 Some types of Supplemental, exogenous Neurotrophic Factors are presently under investigation for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease:  ^[18]

 Optimal levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) may help to prevent Parkinson.

 Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) is a promising potential therapy for Parkinson’s Disease (due to its ability to prolong the survival of Dopaminergic Neurons in the Substantia Nigra of the Brain).  ^[19]