I have been researching this with some interest because it is now suspected that many young, otherwise healthy people died of this in the Flu Pandemic of 1918. It is well known that the some of the survivors awoke some sixty years later with Parkinsonism and this is how levodopa was "discovered". They have been trying to directly link the flu virus to Parkinson's but I am thinking that these folks who were strong enough to survive the storm ended up with a low level inflammatory reaction that resulted in symptoms of PD (cant say it is same as Idiopathic, but there are people with post-encephalalytic PD that pass for idiopathic kind). Who knows? What sucks is that no one ever seems to explore these things further! See #27 "I can't Talk" Nicotine has also restored speech in a PWP.

Further support:

Cytokines formed of macrophages are a key part of PD pathology.
www.cytokinestorm.com

Cytokine storms are also implicated in deaths due to H1N1 and SARS. There have been case studies of young survivors of these viruses coming out of coma with Parkinsonism. Most recent example in 2009 in a 22 yr. old girl.

Journal of Neuroinflammation: Hypothalamic Abnormalities and Parkinsonism.


The only substance that is known to stop a cytokine storm is nicotine. Is this, in turn why nicotine is considered neuroprotective against PD?
How Nicotine Stops Inflammation - Scientific American 2006