By David Perlmutter, M.D.
PARKINSON'S DISEASE -
A PREVENTABLE ILLNESS?
It has been estimated in the United States alone, more than one million people
have Parkinson's disease, with more than 50,000 new cases being diagnosed each
year. The prevalence in the over 55 population approaches 1 in 100.
Typically, Parkinson's disease is considered "idiopathic", which is to say no clear-cut cause is readily identifiable. That being said, the idea of preventing Parkinson's disease certainly does not fit with our general understanding of this illness.
New research, however, is revealing that certain lifestyle factors may considerably increase the risk of Parkinson's disease. In two fascinating reports in the January 1999 issue of Movement Disorders, the relationship of increased risk of Parkinson's disease to both occupational exposure to pesticides as well as intake of animal fats, was described. In the first report, dietary data from 103 patients with the disease were compared to a similar number of controls. Those individuals having the highest consumption of animal fat were at a 300% increased risk for developing Parkinson's disease. Interestingly, there was a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in those individuals eating foods high in niacin.
There was also confirmation of the long-held belief that occupational exposure to agricultural work and pesticide exposure, significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease.
Why high-fat diets may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease is not clear. Nevertheless, there may be a relationship between these two studies in that consuming foods high on the food chain (animals) does increase an individual's consumption of fat soluble pesticides which are now ubiquitous in our environment. In the mid-1980's research demonstrated that a particular toxin could immediately cause Parkinson's disease. This has formed the foundation for a school of research exploring how a toxic insult can damage a particular part of the brain and create a disease like Parkinson's.
The take-home message from these two reports is simply that Parkinson's should not be considered to be a disease that develops "out of the blue". There are very important modifiable factors, which can significantly increase the risk of this debilitating problem.
To learn more about the health risks of pesticides I recommend reading Our
Stolen Future by Theo Coburn, Dianne Dumanowski, and John Peterson Myers, with a
foreword by Vice President Al Gore (ISBN 0-452-27414-1). The health benefits of
a vegetarian diet are eloquently described in Dr. Neal Barnard's book, The Power
of Your Plate (ISBN 0-913990-69-8).
- Glutathione Therapy
- An interview with Dr. David Perlmutter by Jill Selby
Here Glutathione therapy is explained by the doctor who pioneered the treatment.
Glutathione therapy is inexpensive, safe and can dramatically improve functioning for patients with Parkinson's Disease. It is a treatment that sounds too good to be true, but there is no questioning the impressive results. Doctors all over the world are becoming believers in the benefits of glutathione thanks to the work of our special guest, Dr. David
Perlmutter.Jill: Thanks for taking the time to visit with me about glutathione therapy,
Dr. Perlmutter. Your work is generating a lot of excitement in the PD community. How does glutathione work?Dr. Perlmutter: A better question might be, "Why is it useful?" It's now recognized that the main pathologic event in Parkinson's Disease or any
other neurologic disorder is the destruction of neurons by free radicals, so anything that limits free radicals is important. The primary role of glutathione is not necessarily in preventing symptoms, but in slowing the
disease by limiting free radicals. Glutathione is a free radical scavenger, so regardless of whether it helps patients symptomatically, day-to-day, it is still something that should be considered.
Jill: But is it true that people who try the therapy are seeing significant improvement in their symptoms?Dr. Perlmutter: Eighty to ninety percent improve dramatically. It's felt that the mechanism that allows it to work is in increasing the sensitivity to certain receptors to dopamine. Glutathione doesn't raise dopamine levels, but it allows the dopamine in the brain to be more effective. That's not a new idea in medicine. Diabetic drugs work not by increasing insulin, but by
increasing the receptors to insulin. Glutathione not only increases sensitivity to dopamine, but also to serotonin, which may explain why many of our depressed PD patients have a remarkable improvement.
Jill: Describe the standard glutathione treatment regimen.Dr. Perlmutter: We've been using glutathione for three years and have steadily increased our dosage. Now our standard dosage is 1400 milligrams mixed with saline and given intraveneously for ten minutes three times a week. We were recently visited by the National Parkinson Foundation and they're very excited -- to the extent they are going to comission a large double-blind study evaluation short- and long-term effectiveness.
Jill: Can patients take glutathione in pill form instead of through an IV?
Dr. Perlmutter: Glutathione must be given via IV. It's digested very rapidly when given orally. Intramuscular injections are somewhat effective, but it's minimal. Also included in our treatment is the amino acid N-Aceytl Cysteine (NAC). The use of milk thistle has been shown to cause retention of glutathione, so it is part of our program.
Jill: Does gluathione replace a patient's current PD medications?
Dr. Perlmutter: Often times the patient's symptoms improve so significantly, we are able to decrease, sometimes significantly, the amount of medication
they require. This is important because there are some side effects with those medications. Levodopa increases the level of homocysteine in the body
and increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.
Jill: So many treatments seem only to benefit recently-diagnosed patients. Is that true with glutathione therapy?Dr. Perlmutter: Everybody gets some benefit. We have treated some patients at end-stage who are wheelchair-bound and unable to speak and they have
shown some very obvious and notable improvement. Their degree of improvement will obviously be less than someone in an earlier stage of the disease.Jill: Are there any side effects associated with the treatment?
Dr. Perlmutter: There are no significant side effects. Also, the cost is exceedingly low: $1.00 for every 100 milligrams and it's often covered by insurance. Family members can even perform the treatment once provided instruction. I do caution other doctors not to mix glutathione with anything but normal saline. Other practitioners might want to mix it with vitamin C,
but vitamin C renders glutathione useless by causing it to oxidize. Since glutahione increases the ability of the liver to process chemicals, there's a possibility that glutathione administration might render chemotherapy less effective.
Jill: How long can someone continue with glutathione therapy?
Dr. Perlmutter: Permanently.
Jill: Is glutathione gaining acceptance in the medical community?
Dr. Perlmutter: I lecture nationally probably ten to twelve times a year andI always ask how many doctors are using it. Probably at least ten to twenty percent of the audience raises their hand. The others are waiting for peer review validation. Glutathione is already an FDA-approved product.
Jill: What lead you to the discovery of glutathione's effectiveness as a treatment for Parkinson's?Dr. Perlmutter: There were articles appearing in our journals noting that the brain of PD patients were deficient in glutathione. We've known since 1950 they were deficient in dopamine. Once we realized they were also deficient in glutathione, we saw the potential.
Jill: How many patients are receiving this treatment?
Dr. Perlmutter: Probably several thousand, easily.
Jill: And is the treatment uncomfortable?
Dr. Perlmutter: Not at all. I've had it myself many times.Jill: Is glutathione therapy used to treat any other conditions besides PD?
Dr. Perlmutter: It's been very effective in treating irritable bowel syndrome, and I don't have a clue why. We use it to treat all neurodegenerative symptoms, but it is also part of our treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.Jill: Do patients need to go to your health center in Florida to receive this treatment?
Dr. Perlmutter: No. I have an instructional videotape available on my website and I receive six or eight phone calls every day from doctors around the country. I'm happy to work with them. It's something any physician can do in his or her office and ultimately, the patients or their families can learn to do it at home
Contact Dr. Perlmutter +1 239 649-7400
http://www.perlhealth.com/
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