Hi Janie,
I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease almost 9 years ago, based on hand tremors, peripheral neuropathy, lack of reflexes in my ankles and knees, gain issues, balance issues, etc. The symptoms were obvious. The only problem is that I don't have Parkinson's, and several neurologists have agreed with my assessment at various times since that original diagnosis. In fact, 9 months after the diagnosis, another neurologist (the head of the department) agreed with me that the diagnosis was incorrect. The only thing that I had done differently for those 9 months was to take Metanx, which is the prescription equivalent of Thorne Laboratories' Methyl-Gard Plus. For one thing, after 9 months of taking Metanx, I had almost normal ankle and knee reflexes, and my balance was better.
So I have to conclude that in my case at least, the symptoms were at least in part due to methylation issues, and my nervous system had been severely damaged by a deficiency of the active forms (the methylated versions) of B-12, B-6 and possibly other vitamins (such as the active form of vitamin D). I also probably had a chronic magnesium deficiency, but I didn't realize that at the time, so I made no effort to correct it at the time.
I don't know if you've seen my
Understanding Microscopic Colitis book, but here is a quote from pages 222–224 that you might find interesting:
The brain fog that often develops with MC may have a sinister side.
MC appears to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (ALS). This association hasn't yet been proven, but all of these diseases seem to have a gastrointestinal connection. For example, patients who have Parkinson's disease have been shown to have different gut biomes than people who do not have the disease. Furthermore, Parkinson's patients have been shown to have had gastrointestinal issues decades before their Parkinson's symptoms developed.
According to The Michael J Fox Foundation, almost 80 % of Parkinson's patients have constipation that usually begins several years prior to the development of Parkinson's symptoms (Dolhun, 2014, December 08).252 Furthermore, not only do Parkinson's patients have altered gut biomes, but Parkinson's patients with different types of motor symptoms, have unique populations of gut bacteria that coordinate with the types of symptoms. For example, Parkinson's patients with more severe balance and gait problems have more Enterobacteria than others.
All Parkinson's patients have fewer Prevotella bacteria than normal people (Ghaisas, Maher, & Kanthasamy, 2016).253 So do autistic children, incidentally. Interestingly, in normal people, this bacterium usually helps to produce thiamine and folate vitamins. Perhaps this is a clue.
The Michael J Fox Foundation also points out that a protein that's found in clumps in the brains of all Parkinson's disease patients (known as alpha-synuclein) can be found in certain other locations in the body outside of the brain, including the enteric nervous system —the nerves that control the digestive system, sometimes called the second brain (Dolhun, 2014, December 08). The question yet to be answered is whether alpha-synuclein might develop first in the gut and then eventually spread to the brain where it causes motor symptoms.
Recalling part of our discussion back in chapter 3, we know that Parkinson's patients have lower vitamin D levels than people who don't have Parkinson's, (Kwon et al., 2016). And we know that vitamin D deficiency may be a common cause of delayed gastric emptying in untreated Parkinson's patients (Kwon et al., 2016). And as discussed previously, we recognize that magnesium deficiency might also contribute to delayed stomach emptying.
Could these neurodegenerative diseases be consequences of decades of chronic vitamin D and magnesium deficiencies?
Looking at the associations of neurodegenerative diseases with decades of digestive disorders that are often connected with, and may be caused by vitamin D and magnesium deficiencies, suggests to me that these syndromes may not be diseases — they might be symptoms of ignoring chronic vitamin D and magnesium deficiencies for decades.
The brain fog that's often associated with MC certainly illustrates the ability of digestive system inflammation to cause serious neurological problems. And the fact that resolving MC symptoms resolves brain fog suggests that resolving these chronic deficiencies may be the key to preventing the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
If the deficiencies continue to remain untreated as the decades pass, then whether or not a neurodegenerative disease may develop is likely to be determined by the individual's predisposing genes. In other words, genetics will determine which type or types of neurodegenerative issues may develop due to unresolved nutrient deficiencies. At this point, this is strictly a theory. Time will tell whether or not it will eventually be proven by medical researchers to be valid.
In support of my theory, however, I would point out that magnesium has been shown to prevent the clumping of alpha-synuclein (Golts et al., 2002).254 So a chronic magnesium deficiency would surely allow a buildup of clumps of alpha-synuclein.
Here are references 252–254 from that quote:
252. Dolhun, R. (2014, December 08). Gut check on Parkinson's: New findings on bacteria levels. Retrieved from
https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/ ... ria-levels
253. Ghaisas, S., Maher, J., & Kanthasamy, A. (2016). Gut microbiome in health and disease: Linking the microbiome-gut-brain axis and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of systemic and neurodegenerative diseases. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 158, 52–62. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4747781/
254. Golts, N., Snyder, H., Frasier, M., Theisler, C., Choi, P., & Wolozin, B. (2002). Magnesium inhibits spontaneous and iron-induced aggregation of alpha-synuclein. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 277(18), 16116–16123. Retrieved from
http://www.jbc.org/content/277/18/16116.long
I hope that some of this will be helpful.
Tex
PS I forgot to mention that a search of the archives using the term "Parkinson's" brings up 189 hits.
