Q & A archive—Parkinson's

Question: My mother has Parkinson's. Most symptoms are under control. However, she is very tired and lacks energy. She does not want to increase her Parkinson's medication due to fear of dosage side effects. Is there anything she can do that will increase her energy level without causing additional problems with the Parkinson's?

Answer: Yes, there are several things that may help her. The first thing that must be done is to eliminate sugar foods from the diet. That means ALL soft drinks—diet or regular, cake, pie, cookies, ice cream etc. The effects of sugar on the nervous system can be devastating. Generally the “B” vitamins are given to increase energy, however if she is taking Levodopa alone, Vitamin B6 is contraindicated because it interferes with the function of Levopopa. If she is taking Sinemet (the combination of Levodopa with Carbidopa) B6 can be safely taken. If this is the case, a 50 mg. B complex capsule taken once a day can be beneficial.

Glutathione is very helpful in Parkinson’s but Glutathione taken as such is ineffective because it cannot pass the blood-brain barrier so we use NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) which the liver converts to a utilizable for of Glutathione. 600 mg taken twice a day by mouth on an empty stomach is beneficial.

ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) is also very beneficial because it regenerates Glutathione. 200 mg. taken orally three times a day is adequate dosage.

Magnesium capsules are also very beneficial to help relax the muscular rigidity of Parkinson’s and the alleviate the constipation which is usually caused by the drugs with which doctors treat Parkinson’s. 400 to 1200 mg. a day. Adjust the dose to whatever it takes to keep the bowels moving easily and regularly once or twice daily.

Vitamin C in doses of 1000 mg. capsule twice a day and Vitamin E COMPLEX 800 units once daily are very helpful antioxidants.

There is a recently developed Intravenous Glutatione treatment for Parkinson’s which is very effective in treating the tremor and muscular rigidity. As far as I am aware, this therapy is only being utilized by nutritionally oriented physician.

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