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Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

michaeljfox.org

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Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#31
post #6

I just found out about Thiamine (vitamin B1) megadose therapy for Parkinson's: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762356/ Another study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26505466/ > Conclusions: Administration of parenteral high-dose thiamine was effective in reversing PD motor and nonmotor symptoms. The clinical improvement was stable over time in all the patients. From our clinical evidence, we hypothesiz…

Take a look at zinc instead. It helps increase the activity of enzymes that break down alpha-synuclein.

https://academic.oup.com/hmg/article/23/11/2791/621896

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#32
post #12

My grandmother had Parkinson's and it was awful. How long until I can go to the doctor, get some blood drawn, and see if I'll develop it one day?

What would you do if you found out you would? (I ask as someone whose great-grandfather, great-uncle, and grandfather all had Parkinson’s.) I’ve avoided any testing because, as far as I know, there’s nothing preventative to be done. I’d love to hear otherwise. I’ve broached the subject with my last two primary care physicians and both advised that there was no point in knowing.

>What would you do if you found out you would?

There's quite a few big decisions to make, no? Preparing financially, making plans for when you're going to retire or what to do before, whether you want to have kids and put them through this, and so on.

If I found out I had a degenerative disease at the very least I'd opt for an egg or sperm donation and not delay having kids. You probably don't want to be in declining health while they're growing up.

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#34
The first study has 3 patients. The second study is a little better, but not by much. Both have the same first author. If this were legitimate, some academic medical center in the US would have picked it up. Parkinson’s is a huge target, and this kind of thing makes a career. This is likely on the same level as horse dewormer for COVID.

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you do if you found out you would? (I ask as someone whose great-grandfather, great-uncle, and grandfather all had Parkinson’s.) I’ve avoided any testing because, as far as I know, there’s nothing preventative to be done. I’d love to hear otherwise. I’ve broached the subject with my last two primary care physicians and both advised that there was no point in knowing.

>What would you do if you found out you would? There's quite a few big decisions to make, no? Preparing financially, making plans for when you're going to retire or what to do before, whether you want to have kids and put them through this, and so on. If I found out I had a degenerative disease at the very least I'd opt for an egg or sperm donation and not delay having kids. You probably don't want to be in declining…

> I'd probably opt for an egg or sperm donation

so that any kids produced would have a high probability of having the disease too?

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#36
post #6

I just found out about Thiamine (vitamin B1) megadose therapy for Parkinson's: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762356/ Another study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26505466/ > Conclusions: Administration of parenteral high-dose thiamine was effective in reversing PD motor and nonmotor symptoms. The clinical improvement was stable over time in all the patients. From our clinical evidence, we hypothesiz…

Published in the "Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine", "The leading peer-reviewed journal providing scientific research for the evaluation and integration of complementary medicine into mainstream medical practice."

"Integrative and Complementary Medicine" is a fancy way of saying quackery.

Also, the video you linked to is on a channel run by a person describing himself as "a certified functional medicine practitioner & naturopathic nutritional therapist [..]. He enjoys making videos on a wide variety of health-related topics ranging from nutritional biochemistry to circadian biology, animal-based nutrition, and the dangers of electromagnetic radiation."

No further questions, your honor.

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#37

The first study has 3 patients. The second study is a little better, but not by much. Both have the same first author. If this were legitimate, some academic medical center in the US would have picked it up. Parkinson’s is a huge target, and this kind of thing makes a career. This is likely on the same level as horse dewormer for COVID.

>This is likely on the same level as horse dewormer for COVID

You mean something that's demonstrated to have a statistically significant protective effect in a majority of studies but was attacked mercilessly by the pharma industry and the media they fund because they can't profit from a generic drug like that? https://c19ivm.org/meta.html

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#38
post #3

Not to unnecessarily shit on the parade, but I’m not sure this is by itself all that exciting, and calling it a breakthrough seems like an exaggeration. Diagnosing Parkinson’s isn’t really an issue - worst case you give the putative sufferer Levadopa and see if they respond. If they do, they’ve got Parkinson’s. Not sure how much this really changes the time horizon for an actual treatment. It’s progress, ostensibly,…

Biomarkers are extremely important in any disease. They make diagnosis very clear cut but that isn't the main reason they are necessary. What a biomarker really does is focus research for treatments, you know precisely what it is you have to change and to what level and how to measure it. This makes it a easy to target drug development and to measure whether it works. Without a biomarker you never know if the drug be…

The problem the OP pointed out is a valid one. Alpha-synuclein is a biomarker for many neurological diseases

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24262191/

So you might say someone has a marker for Parkinson's and they might get another neurological disorder.

They tried these treatments in Alzheimer's and it failed. Why? because it is just another symptom and not the fundamental cause of the disease.

It is a good biomarker for poor health, but it is not a good biomarker for any specific disorder.

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#39
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/thiamine-vitamin-b1-and-par... The Michael J Fox foundation is more muted and says evidence is still missing. There have only been 2 trials and both were missing a placebo control group.

Imagine having Parkinsons and being in the placebo control group.

Today we should assume that it's harmless to get the placebo.

Only if a trial shows extraordinary consistent benefit without drawbacks would they stop it because the placebo group is harmed for lack of access to the treatment.

Re: Significant breakthrough in search for Parkinson's biomarker

#40
post #6

I just found out about Thiamine (vitamin B1) megadose therapy for Parkinson's: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762356/ Another study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26505466/ > Conclusions: Administration of parenteral high-dose thiamine was effective in reversing PD motor and nonmotor symptoms. The clinical improvement was stable over time in all the patients. From our clinical evidence, we hypothesiz…

> 100 mg of thiamine administered intramuscularly twice a week Is it possible to get anywhere near this much with dietary thiamine?

> Is it possible to get anywhere near this much with dietary thiamine?

High thiamine food stuffs have a few milligram at most so it would take some effort. However, many B1 vitamin tablets have 100mg-300mg, although I wonder how well that is absorbed compared with an intramuscular shot - it would seem that you could consume the equivalent of 200mg a week.

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