MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

Could Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease be symptoms of a chronic magnesium deficiency?
The Michael J Fox Foundation, points out that almost 80 % of Parkinson's patients have constipation. And the constipation usually begins several years before the Parkinson's symptoms begin to show up (Dolhun, 2014, December 08).42 As we have already seen in previous discussions in this book, constipation is a very common symptom of magnesium deficiency
Furthermore, the Michael J Fox Foundation also points out that a certain protein that's found in clumps in the brains of all Parkinson's disease patients can also be found in certain other locations in the body outside of the brain, including the enteric nervous system. This protein is known as alpha-synuclein). The enteric nervous system is made up of the nerves that control the digestive system, and it's sometimes referred to as the second brain (Dolhun, 2014, December 08). The question of interest here is whether alpha-synuclein might develop in the gut first, and then spread to the brain where it eventually causes motor symptoms.

We know from published research that Parkinson's patients have lower vitamin D levels than people who don't have Parkinson's, (Kwon et al., 2016).43 We also know magnesium has been shown to prevent the clumping of alpha-synuclein (Golts et al., 2002).44 That suggests that a chronic magnesium deficiency might allow a buildup of clumps of alpha-synuclein.

A similar situation exists with Alzheimer's disease, with neurofibrillary tangles known as tau in the brain of Alzheimer's patients (Guo et al., 2013).45 So far no one has published proof that magnesium resolves neurofibrillary tangles, but some neurologists have already begun experimenting with using magnesium to treat Alzheimer's patients (Jones, 2013, May 27).46 My point here is that Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases may not actually be diseases so much as they might be symptoms of decades of ignoring a magnesium deficiency.

Remember — vitamin D and magnesium work together to protect the immune system and keep it working properly. We discussed on page two of chapter one that adequate magnesium is necessary in order to activate vitamin D so that the immune system can use it to defend the body against all types of adverse events. Perhaps some form of magnesium threonate may eventually be shown to be advantageous for treating or preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.