Given our look at the role of antibiotics and their huge potential as therapy for mediating the inflammatory process that underlies our disorder, I thought I'd look into estrogens a little more. Turns out there is compelling evidence both anecdotal and clinical that this line of treat should be pursued. Again, where are the clinical trials? The bigger question is why don't we start asking our doctors and researchers these questions? I am so weary of finding all these promising avenues for really making huge inroads into this disease; why aren't we out there sharing this on CNN, YouTube, Facebook, etc? The squeaky wheel does get noticed. I am getting very close to contacting the MS patients running their own trials...

I can say from experience that hormones do have a profound impact; my story is that of several others ...hormonal changes can be harmful, and I know there is the cancer risk factor. Still, how hard can it to be to study some rats on a low dose of estradiol both before and after MPTP induced Parkinsonism?

I had a child around 15 months ago. I became pregnant shortly after my PD diagnosis and my neurologist assured me that despite the misgivings of my family and me (PD is systemic after all), my neurologist asserted that pregnancy would not negatively impact my PD. She was wrong and worse, it took my high-risk OB-GYN and some residents to run the Medline search that indicated otherwise. Given that PD and pregnancy are rarely experienced at the same time, there are not large samples- in 25 women maybe 15 experienced a permanent worsening. I took a leap of faith, but that small number was important, I permanently declined as well. Nothing drastic, but I went to a mld intermittent action tremor and minimal meds to eating Sinemet. Not to mention that the majority of YOPD moms I know worsened. In fact, one mom didn't exhibit any motor symptoms of PD until she delivered. The benefit potential is there; we need researchers pursuing this now.

There is a lot out there on the neuroprotective role of hormones; here is an abstract that covers the basics on estrogen:

Semin Reprod Med. 2009 May;27(3):240-9. Epub 2009 Apr 28.

Estradiol is a potent protective, restorative, and trophic factor after brain injury.
Brown CM, Suzuki S, Jelks KA, Wise PM.

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. canbrown@u.washington.edu

Abstract
Estrogens are a group of pleiotropic steroid hormones that exhibit diverse mechanisms of action in multiple physiologic systems. Over the past 30 years, biomedical science has begun to appreciate that endogenous estrogens and their receptors display important roles beyond the reproductive system. Our growing appreciation of novel, nonreproductive functions for estrogens has fundamentally contributed to our knowledge of their role in human health and disease. Recent findings from the Women's Health Initiative have caused clinicians and scientists to question whether estrogens are protective factors or risk factors. In light of the dichotomy between basic science and clinical studies, this review will attempt to reconcile differences between them. We will focus on studies from our laboratory and others highlighting the beneficial properties of the most abundant endogenous estrogen, 17beta-estradiol, using in vivo and in vitro models of cerebral ischemia and neuronal injury. These studies demonstrate that 17beta-estradiol powerfully protects the brain using multiple molecular mechanisms that promote: (1) decreased cell death, (2) increased neurogenesis, (3) an enhancement of neurotrophic support, and (4) the suppression of proinflammatory pathways.



Laura