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Parkinson's Disease

Braaks Gut Theory

 

Current theorys see Parkinson’s as degeneration of the substantia nigra .The hypothesis Braak and colleagues research pathology would indicate that it advances from the peripheral nervous system to the brain stem in a staging system first  described  by Braak in 2003

The focus on the substantia nigra faces challenge, most PD patients have additional, non-motor symptoms, and PD is coming to be understood as a much broader disease.

Chronic constipation, loss of smell, and REM sleep disorders often occur before the motor symptoms

One of the attractive features of Braak’s staging scheme is that the areas of the nervous system littered with Lewy bodies at the earliest stages of disease could account for these non-motor symptoms.

The staging system, draws attention to the damage in other transmitter systems—in other words, apart from and before the nigrostriatal system. In addition, it can serve as a framework for relating the pathology in other parts of the nervous system (gastrointestinal tract, spinal cord, and so on) to that in the brain.

Read on link below

http://www.alzforum.org/new/pdf/ParkinsonsSeries.pdf

Wait for it…Oh dear its pooh well thats what the guts about I guess,I like the humour interjection in this snippet  read on and smile.http://www.wellsphere.com/parkinson-s-disease-article/fecal-transplants-might-cure-pd-no-sh-t-and-imean-that/1343322

October 11, 2014 Posted by | Research | Leave a Comment

The stomach is the gateway

Absorption and Metabolism of L‐Dopa by the  Stomach

Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

European Journal of Clinical Investigation (Impact Factor: 3.37). 09/1971; 1(5):313 – 320. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2362.1971.tb00637.x

ABSTRACT The absorption and gastric metabolism of L-dopa (L-dihydroxyphenylalanine) were studied in 14 Parkinsonian patients. Patients were given p. o. 25 μCi (500 mg) 14C L-dopa labelled at the β-carbon mixed with 2 g polyethylene glycol as a dilution marker. Absorption was evaluated by determining the gastric rate of absorption, gastric clearance, serum levels, and urinary excretion of 14C. L-dopa and its metabolites in the gastric juice and serum were fractionated by column chromatography. Patients with gastric juice pH of 1.2-2.1 had a gastric rate of absorption of 62.6±4.7 mg/h with a gastric clearance of 31.7.4.1 ml/h. The gastric emptying time was 228±96min. 17.2–26.4% of total radioactivity in the gastric juice were dopa metabolites. Patients with gastric pH of 6.9-7.2 had a very rapid emptying time (an average of 22 min.) with no gastric absorption. The amount of metabolites in their gastric juice was insignificant. Gastric absorption and emptying time were reduced in patients when the gastric pH was raised to 3.5-4.5 with antacids. Serum peak concentrations were higher and more rapidly achieved in patients with high gastric pH than in those with low pH.The most rapidly achieved and highest serum peak levels were observed in patients with partial gastrectomy and in those who were given the drug by duodenal infusion. It appears that direct absorption of L-dopa by the stomach may be limited by gastric metabolism of the drug, a possibility supported by the study in vitro of human stomach tissue obtained at surgery. The inverse relationship between the gastric emptying time and serum levels suggests that the intestine is the major site of L-dopa absorption. Thus factors that prolong gastric emptying time may lower serum levels of L-dopa by delaying access of the drug to the site of absorption and by increasing metabolism before absorption.

August 12, 2014 Posted by | Anatomy-gut, Medication, Research | Leave a Comment

Volunteer join other people in research

Opportunity exists for involvement,all over the country,you are not restricted to interest in your illness and may find another appropriate area in which you can  contribute.Link below

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July 7, 2014 Posted by | Research, Self Management | Leave a Comment