Parkinson's, ME, Fibromyalgia and The Gut

[Lilja]

Hi all,

I may be kicking in open doors here, but I take the chance of referring to a radio program I heard this morning:


Arnold Berstad, the Norwegian scientist who found that stomach ulcer was not due to stress, but due to a bacteria (Helicobacter Pylori), has continued his work. Together with scientists at Lund University in Sweden, they are now going further with diseases they suspect are connected to gut bacteria.

They think that Parkinson’s, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia do not start in the brain, but in the gut.

Heiko Braak found in 2003 a sick proteine - alfa-synuklein - in the nerve system in patients’ guts, long before they developed Parkinson’s.
The Swedish/Norwegian group of scientists have continued Braak’s work and have taken sick proteines from diseased Parkinson-patients and induced them into rats’ intestines, and saw that the sick proteine spread via the Vagus Nerve, into the brain stem and then into the Substantia Nigra in the brain. 90% of our nerve fibers go from the gut up to the brain, and this sick proteine lives from (eats) the dopamine in the Substantia Nigra where Parkinson starts.

A 50-year old Norwegian with a severe Parkinson-disease had read about an Australian vet with Parkinson who had induced some healthy feaces from one of his relatives into his own body (Tom Borody, Australia), who got healthy. The Norwegian patient wanted to have this done in his own body. He was adviced against it by his nevrologist, saying no doctors in Norway would do it. But, the swedish/norwegian doctors had taken care of and cultured what they called a 15 year old cultivated «soup» from a healthy patient and offered to give him the transplant. This had been done before, but not on patiens with Parkinson's. He first had to go through an antibiotic cure, and then little by little over a certain period of time they induced the «Soup» via his nose and down to the small intestine. But, alas, the patient said at the end of the program that he had not noticed any change in symptoms…

But, I think the scientists are into something real interesting here. Here is a press release in Swedish incl a summary from Springer Link:

http://www.lu.se/nyheter-och-press/pres ... pm_id=2468

Lilja

[tex]

Hi Lilja,

IMO Dr. Berstad is quite correct. In fact, as far as I can tell, virtually all disease begins in the gut.

However, just because all disease begins in the gut does not mean that all diseases can be cured through the gut. Once certain genes are triggered, and cells are damaged (especially neurological cells), some of that damage is permanent, especially when neurological damage is caused by dessication of the myelin sheaths (allowing the nerves inside to die).

Therefore the proper way to approach this issue is to prevent such diseases (by proper diet) before the damage becomes permanent. Most of these diseases are caused by inadequate vitamin D (that's the basic point of my book about vitamin D and AI diseases), and they can be prevented by never allowing one's vitamin D level to fall too low. The active form of vitamin D prevents those genes from being triggered, thus preventing the development of the disease. For example, research shows that fibromyalgia is often due to a misdiagnosed vitamin D deficiency.

Tex

[Blueberry]

From the little that I'm read, it wouldn't surprise me either if many diseases originated from disorders in the digestive system. I would say to friends when looking to improve ones health from a condition, it's a good idea to eat a gut friendly diet and obtain some sunshine exposure (avoid being burnt). Hopefully Dr. Berstad will find funding for human studies in the future. It would be interesting to read what he discovers.

Another disease that might be related to the gut and the need for sunshine exposure is MS. I was just mentioning this to an aunt recently. I sent her information on Dr. Terry Walhl's web sight, mentioning the success the doctor had overcoming MS with diet and sun.

http://terrywahls.com

[Gabes-Apg]

Lilja
there are LOADS of books, studies, articles etc about the Gut - rest of body health connection

Alot of nutritionists, naturopaths, wholistic practitioners are strongly recommending approaches to wellness that involve fixing the gut first, then fix deficiencies and majority of the symptoms should reduce. (Gluten and Dairy free eating plan is the basis of this...)

And in the articles/stories where people 'overcame terminal cancer' type things via wholistic approach, it is generally because they made drastic changes to diet, lifestyle. Minimised triggers, minimised inflammation, got their gut healthy, corrected deficiencies.

Not sure if you have heard of 'The Wiggles' in Norway, childrens entertainment group from Australia. One of the original members, he had chronic IBS, CFS, serious teeth issues, constant joint/muscle pain. The IBS was so bad he would spend 14 hour international flights in the toilet. He got intense treatment that were like inflammation exorcisms, that cleared all the inflammation and toxins from his body, he changed his eating plan and did core strength type exercises, he is now a super super fit 48 year old. He wrote a book about it called 'how I got my wiggle back'

the less appealing part of this approach is that it takes time, lots of time... patience, tenacity, diligence and most people struggle to mentally make that adjustment and commit to the approach. Quite often during the process you feel worse before you feel better.