Awakenings: Encephalitis lethargica and L-DOPA

This is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, …

Eating flavonoids protects men against Parkinson’s disease

Men who eat flavonoid-rich foods such as berries, tea, apples and red wine significantly reduce their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to new research by Harvard University and the University of East Anglia (UEA). Published April 4 in the journal Neurology®, the findings add to the growing body of evidence that regular consumption of …

Intoxication With Heavy Metal As A Possible Cause Of Parkinson’s Disease

By veterinarian Hanne Koplev. A neurologist recommended in the year 1998, that I should be medicated against my tremor, but I said no thank you to his offer, as I preferred to be better diagnosed before starting medication. The following year my symptoms increased, as I became more rigid and my tremor got worse and …

Glutathione And Parkinson’s Disease

“Dr. David Perlmutter, a board certified neurologist from Naples, Florida, started using intravenous glutathione in 1998 for his Parkinson’s patients after he did extensive research on Parkinson’s disease and effects of supplemental glutathione on improving the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.  He is the pioneer in using intravenous glutathione in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.  His …

Link Between Parkinson’s Disease And Manganese Poisoning

A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Gitler and colleagues found in 2009 a genetic interaction between two Parkinson’s disease genes …

Copper Folds Protein Into Precursors Of Parkinson’s Plaques

Researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out how copper induces misfolding in the protein associated with Parkinson’s disease, leading to creation of the fibrillar plaques which characterize the disease. This finding has implications for both the study of Parkinson’s progression, as well as for future treatments. The protein in question, alpha-synuclein, is the …