As I plow through the ever-increasing and voluminous volumes of PD research, I try to figure out how we can pull together what we know to find something that will help us better than what we have available today.

It is hard, as every PWP is different. And our human bodies so complex. But I am honing in on this idea in my non-medical/non-scientific background:

We have reason to believe PD begins in the gut. We have reports that many people feel better with regard to PD when taking antibiotics (they kill off the bad bugs), and conversely, there are anecdotal reports of fecal transplants improving health (because they supply good bugs). I've read that the cast of characters in our biome numbers in the trillions, and outnumbers the total cells in our body by 10 to 1. It's a wonder we're even alive

There is one, and probably more, things in our biomes that is particularly hard to get rid of: candida, a yeast. Candida has a tough outer shell (think barnacle) that is very hard to bust through, which is why it can not only survive inside our gut with its corrosive acids but thrive and make us sick and miserable.

Why focus on candida? Because it creates bad things in our bodies that may cause PD, or at least, symptoms that are collectively called PD:

1. acetyledehyde...acetaldehyde can damage our digestive system, creating microscopically tiny holes in your small intestine through which Candida can escape into your body. This permeability can also contribute to various digestive issues such as food allergies and a condition commonly referred to as leaky gut syndrome, LGS.

As the Candida makes its way through the body, it moves from place to place, creating a systemic infection or overgrowth. Once candida migrates into the bloodstream, new groupings of Candida can multiply within your organs, in our circulation and even in and around the brain, and in any area that is considered the “weak link” of the body, which can vary widely from person to person.

This helps explain to me why our symptoms can vary so much from PWP to PWP.

There is at least one other thread on the forum about acetyldehyde.

2. tartaric acid....this blocks a cell's ability to use glucose normally and forces the cell to anaerobically produce energy. Energy created in this bad way is 20% as much as the cell could normally produce if tartaric acid were not blocking function. No wonder PWP are so tired, 80% less energy!

How does it do this?

Tartaric acid inhibits our production of malic acid, a key intermediate in the Krebs cycle ( a biochemical process used for the extraction of most of the energy from our food). Specifically, tartaric acid is a known inhibitor of the Krebs cycle enzyme fumarase which produces malic acid from fumaric acid.

The effect on our heads: if sufficient malic acid cannot be produced, the body cannot produce the sugar glucose, which is the main fuel for the brain. We may feel weak and have foggy thinking because there is insufficient fuel for the brain. Consuming sugar may provide short-term relief but this will stimulate even more yeast overgrowth and within a short time symptoms are even worse.

3. acetyldehyde + tartaric acid = brain issues.....when tartaric acid and acetaldehyde combine, they prevent your brain from getting the energy it needs to survive, so we see brain fog, depression, fuzzy headedness. What a mess.

What to do?

1. Diet: eat a diet as unfriendly to candida as possible, no sugar (including fruits, try to limit those), grains, you can google this as there is a lot of information out there about candida and diet.

Remember Dr. Wahls recovered from MS by eating a boatload of veggies daily and keeping her glycemic (sugar) load extremely low: I read she ate a fruit only every few days, and then it was usually berries.

2. Malic acid supplementation? I have no idea, but have read that malic acid is OTC. Since candida creates tartaric acid which blocks production of the necessary malic acid, we may give this a go as well.

3. Candida is a yeast, which is a fungus. There are antifungal medicines out there, but my reading indicates that the yeast can often return once the medicine is reduced or stopped. There are varying theories about why this happens.

4. Get a urine organic acid test to see what your levels are.

5. Not recommending this, but turpentine apparently might be of use in dealing with candida. I've been surprised to read how far back people used it and for what ailments. Heavily diluted, of course, just google to research for yourself. I've already read about kerosene being used as well, incredibly.

Getting candida back in balance takes months, usually at least 9. That is how long it took for Dr. Wahls to notice an improvement. I'm not saying MS and PD are the same, but there is a huge overlap in symptoms in MS, PD, CFS, fibro, etc.

As for why so many people have a candida overgrowth, it seems simple: over-use of antibiotics which kill off the good bacteria in our gut (how many times do toddlers get antibiotics for ear infections, coughs, etc.) and horrible diet from birth forward which leads to not only continuation of the problem but actually makes the candida flourish all the more. No wonder we cannot get well.

What do you all think?