PARKINSON’S DISEASE
Also known as shaking palsy, Parkinson’s is one
of North America’s most common debilitating
illnesses. It is often thought of as a disease of old
age, one person in a hundred will develop it by
retirement age, but half of them may have it by
age 40.
Parkinson’s disease develops progressively. Nerve
cells slowly degenerate in the part of the mid-brain
that controls movement (the substantia nigra layer
of the ganglia). In normal health, messages from
the motor cortex to the reticular formation initiate
free movement, and neurotransmitters released
from the basal ganglia in response to the same
messages slow or dampen movement, providing
the suppleness and dexterity we take for granted.
These two neurotransmitters are dopamine, which
stimulates the damping effect, and acetylcholine,
which inhibits it.
Symptoms and Causes
Its exact cause is usually unknown, but
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by cell
damage in the basal ganglia. Production of
dopamine slows down and the characteristic
symptoms appear. It begins with weakness or
stiffness accompanied by a slight tremor of the
hands or head. Over time the shaking increases,
muscles stiffen and there is a visible deterioration
in balance and coordination. In advance stages,
symptoms include generalizes rigidity, drooling,
loss of appetite, stooped posture, a shuffling walk
and a fixed facial expression. Eventually,
communication skills may be impaired. Dementia,
depression and other emotional problems are
common.
Genetic factors play a role too, but there are other
contributing causes including certain medications,
pesticides, carbon monoxide, cyanide, manganese,
street heroin, specific viruses and the type of
repetitive head trauma suffered by boxer
Mohammed Ali (dementia pugilistica).
Researchers at the National Institute of Health in
Bethesda have recently identified a gene
programmed for the production of a protein called
alpha synuclein. There is hope that this clue will
open the door to further discoveries about
Parkinson’s disease and innovative ways to treat it.
Treatment
There is so far no definitive cure for Parkinson’s
disease but it is treatable- most effectively at its
outset. Therefore, early diagnosis is best. For the
time being, conventional treatment includes
medication that attempts to restore neurochemical
balance by replacing or supplementing the body’s
production of dopamine. Neurosurgical techniques
and fetal tissue implants have had some success.
Some scientists are developing implantable
electrodes into the brain to stimulate specific
neural pathways. Drugs such as selegiline have
shown promise. A team headed by researchers
P.Jenner and C.W.Olanow from the
Neurodegenerative Disease Research Centre in
London have shown that selegiline may increase
GSH activity. Recently, newer drugs like
pramipexole and ropenerole have emerged as more
effective treatments.
Parkinson’s disease and Glutathione
Recent research has revealed two important
findings: first, biochemical analysis of the affected
brain tissue shows damage consistent with
extensive oxidative stress and the circulation of
free radicals that follow it; second, GSH levels in
these tissues are particularly low. A striking
feature of Parkinson’s is an approximate 40%
decrease during the early stages of the disease. A
group of researchers from the University of
Southern California led by J.D.Adams Jr. were
able to show that in advanced Parkinson’s Disease
glutathione levels fall to a mere 2% of normal.
Whether the drop in GSH is a cause or a symptom
of this damage remains unclear. But there is good
news – elevated GSH levels slow brain tissue
damage. Some symptoms may even be reversed.
Since damage caused by free radicals is an
invariable component of Parkinson’s Disease,
researchers have experimented with a variety of
high-dose antioxidants. In addition to the more
well known antioxidants, glutathione therapy has
also been used. Not only is GSH an exceptional
antioxidant, the substantia nigra of Parkinson’s
patients is especially deficient in it, so their need is
particularly great. M. Gabby’s research team in
Israel showed that elevated GSH levels more
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effectively reduce dopaminergic toxicity than the
antioxidant vitamins C and E. Paradoxically, while
brain cells need dopamine to function, dopamine
at certain times is actually toxic to the same
tissues. This may be why drugs which raise L-
dopa levels, like Sinemet, only work for a few
years before the effects wear off and the patient
subsequently deteriorates.
Dr P. Jenner and his team at the Parkinson’s
Disease Experimental Research Laboratories in
London have extensively examined the role of
GSH in the progression of this disease. They
found that glutathione levels fall consistently at
the onset of Parkinson’s Disease and believe that
elevated GSH levels can help prevent neural
damage.
D. Offen’s team at the Beilinson Medical
Center in Israel experimented on the actual
neurons involved in dopamine metabolism. They
investigated the cell-death associated with the
Parkinsonian decline in dopamine. To slow down
this decline they used antioxidants, and found that
the thiol (sulfur-containing) antioxidants GSH,
NAC and dithioleitol worked well. In the cautious
language of medical science, they described them
as ‘markedly protective’ of brain cells. This
corroborated the findings of M. Gabby’s work
(above), further supporting the theory that GSH
may prevent or delay dopamine-induced cell
death.
G. Sechi and his team in Italy studied a group
of untreated Parkinson’s patients in the early
stages of the disease who received intravenous
GSH therapy twice a day for a month. All patients
improved significantly, with more than 40%
decrease in their disability. Their improvement
faded away two to four months after the last GSH
treatment.
Other authors have drawn attention to the role
of GSH-enhancing drugs in the treatment of this
disease. There is much evidence to support the
usefulness of elevated glutathione levels. Today,
however, there are ways to raise GSH levels
without the use of pharmaceutical drugs.
CASE STUDY
Glutathione is part of the body’s defense system and
protects us against the onset of many disease
processes. It can also help to reverse certain
conditions or symptoms, either temporarily or
permanently. The following story illustrates the
apparent helpfulness of GSH supplementation in one
particular case.
Wally, a 74-year-old baseball fan, was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s disease in May 1997. His disease
progressed quickly and his doctors placed him on
Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa). In November he began
to experience severe headaches – presumably from
the medication – and he discontinued it. Up to this
point he had been a very active man, but now he
deteriorated to the point where he could not get out of
bed or even rise from a chair without help. He says
movement felt like ‘walking in cement’. He was
constantly fatigued and soon needed a wheelchair to
go outdoors. The doctors used other medications,
including Eldepryl (selegiline hydrochloride) and
Requip (ropinirole hydrochloride). They helped
slightly. In March 1998 he started taking Immunocal,
a natural protein which raises GSH levels. After five
days his headaches were gone. Within two weeks his
fatigue had lessened. Two months later Wally was
walking well again and was eventually able to visit
the new Angels baseball stadium, Edison Field, and
jog around the block. There was no other therapeutic
intervention and seven months later his active lifestyle
continued.
62-year-old Carol maintained an active legal practice
until 1990. After a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in
1986, she was able for a while to continue her career
as a lawyer, but eventually had to quit. The stress was
aggravating her symptoms and the symptoms were in
turn increasing her stress levels. She was treated with
a number of different medications but her health
continued to deteriorate until she eventually needed
help at home to carry out day-to-day tasks. She quit
driving her car and stopped taking her daily walks,
which she loved. Then, within days of starting to take
a bioactive whey protein isolate she noticed her
strength returning. Weeks afterwards she was once
more exploring her neighborhood and nine months
later she was driving again.
Conclusion
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a loss of
the brain cells that regulate dopamine. Significant
evidence point to the role of oxidative stress and
dramatically low GSH levels as critical
contributing causes of this damage. Studies have
demonstrated that protecting these cells from
damage and death by raising GSH levels can
succeed both in the laboratory and in patients and
is a welcome addition to conventional medical
treatments.
The above is taken from “Glutathione – GSH – your body’s
most powerful healing agent”
by Jimmy Gutman MD, FACEP and Stephen Schettini.
ISBN: 0-9687078-2-3