The Gut, the Digestive System and Parkinson's Disease, Part 1 — Out-... http://www.outthinkingparkinsons.

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OUT-THINKING
PARKINSON'S
Progressive Symptom Reduction Strategies for Parkinson's
Disease
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August 3, 2017
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INTRODUCTION
Once upon a time, Parkinson's
Disease was believed to be a
purely neurological problem,
caused by dopamine producing cell

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death in a bean sized part of the DuckDuckGo

brain called the Substantia
Nigra. We now know that this DuckDuckGo blocked this
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know your activity. Learn More
sustained period of years prior to
diagnosis. Today, it is widely Unblock Content
accepted that problems with the
gut and digestive system, including
nutritional deficits - due to resulting
impaired absorption, are not only  Join my Facebook Group
integral to PD, but are also likely to
play major roles in the true causal BLOG
factors.

I have undertaken a great deal of Re-thinking Movement

investigation and research into this Digest People
area, based on which I've now
markedly reduced my own
Mental Health
Diet & Supplements
symptoms, including the physical
pain and mental anguish, through Therapies Toys
application of the understandings Exercise Video
I've gleaned. So, in this article, I Assistive Technology Music
share the main findings of this Biography
research, in case this knowledge
Brain
helps other people with PD ease
their suffering too.
Science
Books
THE ENTERIC THE NECK AND REDUCING STRESS
NERVOUS SYSTEM PARKINSON'S
DISEASE, PART 2
AND PARKINSON'S
DISEASE
Jun 29, 2022 May 17, 2022
Here are my executive summary
THIAMINE AND STRESS, SITUATIONS,

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THIAMINE AND STRESS, SITUATIONS,

notes and commentary, based on RECEPTORS
RESPONSE
AND
PARKINSON'S
PARKINSON'S
PARKINSON'S
DISEASE
DISEASE,
AND
AND
PART
DISEASE
DISEASE
1
SYMPTOMS
PLEASURE,
DISORDERS
BREATHING
DIGESTIVE
ADRENALINE,
PARKINSON'S
AND PARKINSON'S
COMPETITIVE
DISEASE
PARKINSON'S
AND
DOPAMINE
SPORT
SYSTEM
PAIN
AND
AND
DISEASE
PARKINSON'S
WITH AND
AND
DISEASE
Dec26,
Jul
Jun
Apr
May
Mar
Jan
Nov 5,
7,
19,
25,
17,
13,
1, 2022
2020
2021
2019
2021
2021 Aug10,
Jul
Mar
Dec 4,
15,
8, 2021
2020
2021
2019
the Wikipedia article.  Feb 19,
Oct
Jan
Nov
Aug 2,
18,
7,
8, 2021
2020
2020
2021
2022 DISEASE,
PARKINSON'S
Mar 4,
Feb
Nov
Sep
Jun 9,
6,
3,
22,
4, 2020
2021
2022
2021PARTDISEASE
2020 2
Apr 18,
Feb
Oct 22,
19, 2019
2020
2020

"The enteric nervous system (ENS) EARLY RETIREMENT

consists of neurons which govern SURVIVAL INSTINCTS

the function of the gastrointestinal

tract. It is now usually referred to as FEELING TRAPPED AND
separate from the spinal/brain's
MOTIVATION,
nervous system since it has its own
independent reflex activity. The DOPAMINE CELL
ENS is also called the second
brain." DOPAMINE AND

"The ENS in humans consists of VISUAL CUES AND

some 500 million neurons, one THE EYES AND

two-hundredth of the number of

neurons in the brain, five times as EYE EXERCISES AND

many as the one hundred million PODCAST THERAPY

neurons in the human spinal cord,

RELATIONSHIPS AND
and about 70% of those in the
whole nervous system of a cat. The SLEEP AND

enteric nervous system is

CELL DANGER
embedded in the lining of the
gastrointestinal system, beginning EATING HABITS AND

in the esophagus and extending

down to the anus." SHARED EXPERIENCES
BREATHING
So our "gut instinct" is nearly as
"intelligent" as that of a cat!
THE NECK AND
"The neurons of the ENS are DIAPHRAGMATIC

collected in the muscular layer

responsible for gut movement such MUSIC THERAPY AND
as smooth muscle movements in
THE GUT, THE

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FEELING SAFE AND

NORADRENALINE,

FEELING HEAVY AND

BRAIN HEALING AND CHRONIC STRESS AND

ATHLETICS TRAINING
the intestinal wall, which move food
along the tract."

"The ENS can operate

autonomously, but it normally
communicates with the autonomic
nervous system's 'rest &
digest' mode via the Vagus Nerve
and 'fight-flight-or-freeze' mode of
the nervous systems. However,
vertebrate studies show that when
the Vagus Nerve is severed, the
enteric nervous system continues
to function."

See
INSIGHTS
THE NERVOUS
Person with
SYSTEM AND
PARKINSON'S PD
DISEASE Caregiver Reader Author
Therapist
and
TREMORS REDUCED ACCESSIBLE

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TREMORS REDUCED ACCESSIBLE

STAYING POSITIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR

EDUCATIVE POSTS
PARALLELS WITH

CORRECTING

REM SLEEP BEHAVIOUR

YOGA THERAPY

STRATEGIES OF
APPLICATIONS OF

HOPE AND

HEADED IN THE RIGHT

HUSBAND DIAGNOSED

MAKING CHANGES

CRANIOSACRAL
MUSIC IS MEDICINE

SOCIAL ISOLATION FROM MALTA

IMPACTFUL CO-REGULATION

Oct
Jun
Aug
May
Apr
Sep
Jul 7,19,
26,
20,
STRESS 10,
11,
27,
2022
2017
2020
2021
2018
2017
2018
2021 THEORY
DYSFUNCTIONAL
POLYVAGAL
DIRECTION
DISCOVERIES
PROGRESSION
DOTS Sep
Mar 31,
6,
10,2018
2018
2018 CAUSES
KNOWLEDGE
EXPLORATION
TRAUMA
DISORDER
RECOVERY
INSPIRATION
THERAPY
POTENTIAL
INFORMATION
OURSELVES
THE OVERLAPS SLEEP
Sep 21,
Feb
Mar
Jan
Aug
Jun 9,
6,
7,
3,
28,2019
2017
2018
2019
2018
2017 Jul
Mar
Nov
May
Feb
Oct
Aug
Jun 28,
27,
25,
21,
9,
29,
24,
6,
14,
27,
24,2017
2018
2021
2018
2020
2017
2017
2019
2021
2022
OUTSTANDING2019
Feb 4, 2021DOWN
BETWEEN STRESS SLOWING

AND PARKINSON'S EXPLORING ALL THE

DISEASE, PART 2 CAN-DO ATTITUDE

for detailed articles about the CONNECTING THE

INVALUABLE
central role of the Vagus Nerve and
fight-flight-freeze stress responses BODY'S WISDOM
in Parkinson's Disease. Note also DOING IT FOR

the studies which show that, when GETTING RID OF

the Vagus Nerve was surgical

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severed, this provided a significant

protective factor for preventing
Parkinson's Disease - strongly
suggesting that the communication
of gut problems via the ENS to the
autonomic nervous system is linked
to PD onset.

"The ENS is capable of carrying

reflexes and acting as an
integrating center completely
independently. The sensory
neurons report on mechanical and
chemical conditions. Through
intestinal muscles, the motor
neurons control peristalsis and
churning of intestinal contents.
Other neurons control the secretion
of enzymes."

"The enteric nervous system also

makes use of more than 30
neurotransmitters, most of which
are identical to the ones found in
the brain, such as acetylcholine,
dopamine, and serotonin. More
than 90% of the body's serotonin
lies in the gut, as well as about
50% of the body's dopamine."

When I first read this, I was

shocked. No scientist, neurologist,
doctor or nurse had ever informed
me that dopamine, the chemical my

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system is supposedly in deficit

of, has a role outside the
brain/Substantia Nigra, let alone
that, in fact the majority of it is
produced and used outside the
brain (it turns out that dopamine is
also crucial in the eye for vision, for
example)! I immediately asked
myself what the implications of this
are. Does it mean, when there are
only limited supplies of the
neurotransmitters present in both
brain and gut, such as dopamine in
PD or serotonin in depression, that
there's a competition between the
central and enteric nervous system
for which gets the lion's share of
these limited supplies? 

DOPAMINE IN THE
GUT
I wanted to know what dopamine is
actually doing in the gut in the first
place. With a little digging, I found a
grant application from the 1980's
which showed people were starting
to look into this back then:

"Physiological studies suggest that

dopaminergic mechanisms are
important in the regulation of
gastrointestinal motility. However,
little is known about dopamine

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receptors in the gastrointestinal (GI)

tract. In man, dopamine inhibits
motility in the upper gut, but
stimulates motility in the colon.
These contrasting effects on motor
activity suggest the presence of
different populations of
dopaminergic receptors in the GI
tract."

It seems at least someone was

asking the right questions, but I was
shocked that, even though this was
known about in the science of the
eighties, it still isn't very common
knowledge decades later. Very few
in the medical, neurological and
scientific circles in which I inquired
could tell me anything more! 

The next major source I found is

much more recent. It was a very
interesting article in a 2012 edition
of The New Scientist magazine
called

GUT INSTINCTS: THE

SECRETS OF YOUR
SECOND BRAIN
which re-presented some of these
questions and ideas as if they were
new:

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"What are these neurotransmitters

doing in the gut?"

"In the brain, dopamine is a

signalling molecule associated with
pleasure and the reward system. It
acts as a signalling molecule in the
gut too, transmitting messages
between neurons that coordinate
the contraction of muscles in the
colon."

The article goes on to say:

"The general consensus is that

neurotransmitters produced in the
gut cannot get into the brain -
although, theoretically, they could
enter small regions that lack a
blood-brain barrier, including the
hypothalamus."

A caveat on the this latter

statement, however, is given in my
article

LEAKY BLOOD BRAIN

BARRIER AND
PARKINSON'S
DISEASE
which explains how both the blood
brain barrier and the gut lining can
lose their protective functions in a

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variety of ways. Given that leaky gut

and leaky brain are both heavily
implicated in the disease, the road
blocks between chemicals
produced in the gut reaching the
brain is not so assured for people
with Parkinson's. For example,
unusually high levels of histamine,
which is naturally produced in the
gut as part of digestion, have been
found in the brains of people with
PD

THE OVERLAPS
BETWEEN ALLERGIC
REACTIONS AND
PARKINSON'S
DISEASE
Intriguingly, however, the New
Scientist article also revealed that
other hormone activity in the gut
can indirectly influence the
production of dopamine in the brain
too:

"Stress also leads the gut to

increase its production of ghrelin, a
hormone that, as well as making
you feel more hungry, reduces
anxiety and depression. Ghrelin
stimulates the release of dopamine
in the brain both directly, by

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triggering neurons involved in

pleasure and reward pathways,
and indirectly by signals
transmitted via the vagus nerve."

Again, none of my health

professionals have ever mentioned
ghrelin to me before - I will write a
sequel post on what I discovered
about this. However, here I would
like to underline the point that many
people with PD experience
"blocking" of their medication after
large or hard to digest meals, and
now the above helps make sense
of this: hunger is a way to stimulate
the Vagus Nerve and hence to
promote the relaxational "feel
good" state of the body, increasing
the system's call on conversion of
PD drugs into dopamine in the
brain.

"Nevertheless, nerve signals sent

from the gut to the brain do appear
to affect mood. Indeed, research
published in 2006 indicates that
stimulation of the vagus nerve can
be an effective treatment for
chronic depression that has failed
to respond to other treatments (The
British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 189,
p 282)."

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The New Scientist article links

these findings directly to PD -
because the gut as well as the
brain becomes short of dopamine
supplies (and, I discovered later, so
do the eyes):

"A growing realisation that the

nervous system in our gut is not just
responsible for digestion is partly
fuelled by discoveries that this
'second brain' is implicated in a
wide variety of brain disorders. In
Parkinson’s disease, it has been
found that the damage, also shows
up in dopamine-producing neurons
in the gut."

IMPLICATIONS FOR
PARKINSON'S
DISEASE
The 2012 New Scientist article
referred to above also states:

"If nothing else, the discovery that

problems with the ENS are
implicated in all sorts of conditions
means the second brain deserves
a lot more recognition than it has
had in the past. 'Its aberrations are
responsible for a lot of suffering,'
... a better understanding of the
second brain could pay huge

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dividends in our efforts to control all

sorts of conditions, from obesity
and diabetes to problems normally
associated with the brain such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s."

"Yet the number of researchers

investigating the second brain
remains small. 'Given it’s potential,
it’s astonishing how little attention
has been paid to it,' "

Unfortunately, this is what I found to

be the case, too. Nevertheless, I
hope by sharing what has been
gleaned so far, this will help inform
people with PD that they do need
to pay particular attention to
digestive health as well, and to be
very careful about what they eat!

In Diet & Supplements, Mental

Health
Tags Dopamine, Gut, Digestion,
Enteric Nervous System, Science

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