Parkinson's Disease and Glyconutrients
Parkinson’s disease is misnamed – it isn’t a disease but rather, it is a condition. It was named after James Parkinson, a British doctor. It is a neurological condition in which the nerve cells in a part of the brain (the substantia nigra or black substance) are destroyed or impaired. When functioning properly the substantia nigra produces dopamine – a chemical that sends messages to muscles in the body to tell them when and how to move. When levels of dopamine in the brain decrease a person feels disorientation and the nerve cells relay inappropriate messages to the muscles – this causes uncontrollable body movements.
The rate of progress of Parkinson’s condition varies from person to person but it is a progressive condition that greatly affects a person’s ability to move. In the US, it is estimated that 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and that approximately 500,000 people suffer from Parkinson’s. Although the average age of onset is between 55 and 60 years, three percent of people over 65 get it, and some people under 40 years of age have been identified with it. It is thought of as a condition of late middle age. By the time a person is 75 years of age their risk of getting Parkinson’s decreases to zero.
Parkinson’s condition does not discriminate between the sexes with equal number of men and women who suffer. Neither does it appear to favour one race, although some studies have shown that the Causcasian populations appear to have higher proportions of incidence than do African-Americans or Asians. It is unknown why this might be the case.
The main impact of Parkinson’s condition on a person’s life is not in causing death, although it does affect longevity, but it is in reducing quality of life and increasing suffering. Parkinson’s does not run in families and so has no known genetic link, although if a person has a parent or sibling who developed the condition before the age of 50, then statistically they have a greater change of getting it also. This may strengthen the case for considering Parkinson’s to be a result of environmental toxins. It is not a contagious disease.
There is no known common cause for Parkinson’s condition, but in many cases it is a result of environmental toxins. Toxins create free radicals in our body and these cause oxidative stress which leads to cell death. Antioxidant supplements can lessen the oxidative stress. Supplementation with the eight essential glyconutrients can support all the cells in the body to glycosylate ie to be able to send and receive messages from other cells. Mannatech markets a product called Ambrotose which contains these essential glyconutrients and an excellent antioxidant supplement called 'AO'
There is currently no test to determine if a person either has or is likely to have Parkinson’s. Diagnosis is usually made after a battery of tests one of which is a brain-imaging scan. In many cases Parkinson’s is not diagnosed at the outset of symptoms, but only after the condition has progressed. Doctors sometimes put symptoms down to overtiredness, stress, aging, or arthritis in the early stages.
People suffering from Parkinson’s vary in the intensity of symptoms but usually have rhythmic tremors in arms, legs, feet, hands and fingers, slow movements, rigidity, difficulty in speech, problems with balance and uncoordinated movements.