parkinson's disease page 3

[abexman]

Another important excerpt from Holden's book:

The combination of levodopa and carbidopa, called
Sinemet, is an important medication used in treating
Parkinson’s disease. However, there are some barriers to
absorption of Sinemet by the body.
1) If you take your Sinemet with a meal, or just
after a meal, it may take a very long time for the
Sinemet to be absorbed. This is because the
stomach takes about one to three hours to empty
food. The Sinemet is mixed with the food, so it
takes the same amount of time to clear the
stomach as the food does.
2) A high-fat meal takes even longer to clear the
stomach. Fat is digested very slowly compared
to carbohydrate and protein. If Sinemet is mixed
with the fat, it will clear the stomach at the same
time as the fat.
3) Protein in the meal is broken down in the
intestine into amino acids. These aminos must
travel across the intestinal wall to get into the
blood. Once in the blood, they must cross the
blood-brain barrier to get into the brain. Sinemet
also must cross the intestine and the blood-brain
barrier. And the aminos and Sinemet use exactly the
same carrier system to get across.
Most meals contain a large amount of protein,
and so the aminos use up all the “carriers.” The
Sinemet must wait until the carriers are free
again, in order to cross over into the
bloodstream. The same thing happens when
Sinemet tries to get to the brain, where it does its
work. Once more, aminos clog up all the
“carriers” and Sinemet can’t get through to the
brain.

[abexman]

Well, very interesting. So on further examination it turns out at the same time my mother started having new symptoms (about a month after starting paleo), her doctor, unknown to me at the time, increased her Sinemet from 2 to 3 pills a day (about 2 weeks after starting paleo). In my reading I am now beginning to think the problem may be the Sinement itself. The timing correlation is clear. The rapid onset of new symptoms does not seem to conform to what PD is supposed to do. The neuro of course thought it was the diet initially. No diff off paleo. Then she prescribed amantadine and my mother instantly reacted very badly to it. Now, based on me prodding she is suggesting my mom reduce Sinemet. However I fear this is a harder path than the neuro is leading on.

Please take a look at this book, about a CA acupuncturist who conducted her own studies of reducing medication in PD patients who later had "complete" recoveries and the failures in those that did not. I am part way through, would be interested to hear your thoughts:
Download Once Upon A Pill

The research continues.

[Paysan]

I have gotten so cynical about the nutritional advice handed out by those with "degrees", that I automatically discount over 50% of said advice. A sure way to get confused is to try to marry their recommendations (by the book) with anything smacking of paleo/primal or even low carb. And I definitely am averse to taking medications that doctors hope will "cure" me before it kills me. Not that this helps your mother in the slightest. Keep researching, and possibly something will click. She could do worse than following a dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free primal diet.

[abexman]

I am still sorting through all the resources but this site seems to have a lot of info on alternative treatments for PD. Some of which I am skeptical and some of which I wonder might actually work. There is also a podcast and an annual summit. Am thinking to read Dr. Rodgers book that is also available.

Mission of Parkinsons Recovery | Parkinsons RecoveryParkinsons Recovery