Forget what you think you know about Parkinson’s …

There seems to be a trend at the moment of researchers discovering that chronic disease starts in the gut.

A theory was proposed in 2003 that was that Parkinson’s which is seen as a brain disease originates in the gut.  Now researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have confirmed that Parkinson’s migrates from the gut.

Another important discovery is that the hearts of people with Parkinson’s can also be affected.  In fact, the protein alpha-synuclein starts in the gut, then damages the heart before moving on to the brain.  They also discovered that it’s in the heart where the damage to the nervous system begins.

Researchers now say that a build-up of the protein alpha-synuclein in the gut can be detected up to 20 years before the disease manifests.  Researcher Per Broghammer says that understanding where Parkinson’s originates is the first step towards preventing the disease and developing an effective treatment.

Reference

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00401-019-02040-w

Related Posts

  • So massage is safe for pregnant women, but is it effective?

    Last week we established that massage is safe for pregnant women.  A scientific review of studies of pregnancy in massage fond that pregnant women who received massage had

    • decreased depression
    • decreased anxiety
    • decreased leg and back pain
    In addition pregnant women who received massage had reduced
    • reduced cortisol levels
    • reduced excessive fetal activity
    • lower rate of prematurity (a baby being born before its 37 weeks old)
    For pregnant women who received massage during labour they
    • experienced less pain
    • required less medication
    • had shorter labours (on average 3 hours shorter)
    The study concluded massage is effective for pregnant women. Reference Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert review of obstetrics & gynecology. 2010;5(2):177-181. doi:10.1586/eog.10.12.
  • Spending time in nature is good for you..

    I know previously I have talked about the benefits I get from spending time in nature (see >> Does nature restore you? - Part 1 & Part 2), [...]

  • Action plan for a healthy small intestine

    The small intestine is as wide as your thumb and around 5.5m long.  It is both a food blender and assimilator as it digests more of your food than your stomach.  Food stays in the small intestine  for 1 - 4 hours before moving on to the large intestine for further processing. Maintaing a healthy small intestine is all about controlling your bacteria levels and mucus build-up on your intestinal walls which can cause havoc and deplete your energy levels.  If you have bloating, gas and loose bowel movements you may have a small intestine issues such as:

    • Candida
    • IBS
    • SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
    Tips
    1. Cut out imflammatory drugs e.g. asprin, paracetamol and avoid alchol.
    2. Take L-glutamine and butyric acid both of these can help heal the gut, but check with a nutritionalist first as dosage is important.
    3. Drink slippery elm tea which calms inflamation of the small intestine and helps relieve IBS.
    4. Up your intake of vitamins A and D - liver is an excellent sourch of these vitamins which protect the mucus membrane of the gut.
    5. Eat more antibacterial foods such as garlic, honey and sauerkraut which preven the growth of Candida, fungus and yeast infections.
    6. Take oregano oil (Oregnano Vulgaris) which has been shown to stop Candidan in its tracks.
    7. Take probiotics daily - look for a count of 50 billion or more in each dose.
    8. Take prebiotics daily - to feed the probiotics.  Or eat food prebiotic foods such as sauerkraut or kimchi.
    9. Go gluten free.  Cut out gluten for an entire week and keep a food diary to check if your symptoms improve.
    10. Mimosa pudica an ayurvedic herb is brilliant at wiping out parasites.
    11. Eat more ant-parasitics such as garlic, thyme, chilli, tumeric and ginger.
    References https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38800977 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15883716