caroolyn if you don't get much response it's because this is the third posting about this development. see debi brooks post in the second thread..lurking for a cure thread.

paula

This is potentially exciting:

I am referring the discovery at Yale University Medical School that high presence of Ghrelin the “hunger hormone” in the body is an indication that the body is fighting PD:

Apart from Parkinson’s link to Grehlin, a search using the term “role of Grehlin in voracious hunger” brings up a lot of results from Neurophysiologists and even a full blown conference of neurologists on the subject of hyperphagia.

I have been suffering from voracious hunger pangs hour before lunch or dinner almost to pathological levels. However unlike typical patients with hyperphagia, I have also lost serious amount of body weight from over 11 stone to a laughable 8 stone and still falling. Too much Ghrelin or too little? Should I eat indiscriminately as the signals from my hunger seems to indicate or do the opposite – not feed my severe hunger? Is there a test for measuring the amount of Ghrelin in circulation?

Any one knows?

I recall wondering if I had not gone on a “heart diet” (low fat and little alcohol) after my bypass which also put a stop to my recurrent gout, I would not have developed PD. As you know there are MJF funded trials on a drug Inosine that increases body URIC acid levels to see if it stops progression of PD.

A similar quandary has arisen with respect to Ghrelin & PD metabolism.

Kenki

Hi kenki,

You're suggesting that we should limit our ice cream binges to just two bowls aren't you? lol

I don't know the answer but there are many drugs that seem to cause increased appetite.

I have similar things going on to those you describe. I'm hungry when I'm off and have trouble swallowing. ldopa takes away your appetite so I weigh less now than in high school... for all the wrong reasons. Another strike against the ldopa that allows me to breath, move and swallow.

I do try to increase my appetite and nortriptyline has propelled me to a whopping 117 lb...up from a frightening 113. So does nortriptyline increase grehlin? A google search is called for here.

I'll post if I find anything. Thanks for posting.
paula