One thing that nags at me.

Most of the PD research I've seen focuses on the LEVELS of dopamine in the blood stream (and protecting the cells that produce it), under the assumption that this is an imprecise but statistically valid measure, however imprecise, of the level of dopamine in the brain itself. (due to difficulty in directly measuring dop. level in the brain.)

However, I have seen very little, if anything, on the regulation of the flow of dopamine within the brain as a mechanism to control & "smooth out" body motions.

i.e., (I think reverrt123 put it this way, years ago): "the fast, hard hammer slam of PD, and long, slow fade."

So, what IS the mechanism the body uses to:
1 sense/ detect the need for more dopamine to communicate to the body that particular parts need to move?

2 accurately calculate the amount of dopamine needed by the brain to most effectively communicate this need to move to the body?

3 .. and finally, actually deliver the dopamine calculated to deliver the movement message to the appropriate movement controlling sections of the brain?

All of this is perhaps a long winded way of saying that I think PD is not JUST about how much dopamine we have, but also, how well is the dopamine storage/ regulating & dispensing system working?

BTW, I posed this question about dopamine regulation & dispensing to Dr. Michael Okun (considered to be one of the foremost PD docs globally), as well as:
what does taking Sinemet do to a person who doesn't have PD ("nothing," it is said, further indicating the importance of a dop. regulating/ dispensing mechanism)

... and what would it be like if a person had absolutely no dopamine whatsover.

His basic answer was: "you are a deep thinker.. and we have no answers to these questions." While I may enjoy being called a deep thinker, frankly I would rather find that my questions led to fruitful research in dealing/ managing PD.

... oh, and when I shared my experience with laughing gas at the dentist dramatically reducing my arm tremor, his reply was something like "we've known for quite a while that sedation works to lessen symptoms of PD."

OK.. then what about making it legal for PWP to have their own bottle of laughing gas, or developing a sedative that lessens PD symptoms without putting a PWP to sleep?

Perhaps these questions simply reveal my ignorance of the complexities of PD, ... or perhaps my wondering "what ARE these guys working on as researchers if they aren't following these valuable PD clues?" has some basis to it.



George