We are starting to see the blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage being accepted as a cause of PD and other neurological illnesses.
The February 2010 edition, No. 42 of the 3R Research Foundation Switzerland, says,

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a crucial role in maintaining and preserving physiological brain homeostasis. Disruption or dysfunction of the BBB constitutes a well-described hallmark of many socially and economically important pathological states including stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, neuroAIDS, Parkinson’s disease and neuroinflammation.

It goes on to say,

Many different animal models are used to study various diseases characterised by loss of BBB integrity but despite this fact, the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in formation, maintenance and breakdown of the BBB are still only poorly understood.

http://www.forschung3r.ch/data/publi...hola-Bul42.pdf

Ron

I glanced at this when Ron first posted it, then it got pushed way down and I just not located it. This is a theory that I have almost exclusively taken into my repertoire of possible reasons causing PD; it just makes sense! Call it a "damaged" or "leaky" blood brain barrier (BBB) or whatever, I do believe herein will lie the answers to many of our PD questions.

Ron, it also seems to me that the inflammation theory would go right along with this. Let's say you had this defective BBB - whenever an infection in the body occurred, the swelling could make the passage of dopamine even MORE difficult.

But knowing you, I would bet my last cookie that you have already thought of this.

Peg

Another endorsment of the theory that a defective Blood-brain barrier can cause Parkinson's Disease.

http://www.zincpoisoninglawyer.com/z...anti-oxidant-2

Zinc is found in higher concentrations within the brain than any other essential mineral except iron and is believed to be particularly important in preserving the effectiveness of the so-called “blood brain barrier” (BBB). The purpose of the BB is to protect vital brain and nervous system tissue from the toxins which it might otherwise absorb through the blood supply. The potential problem is that the BBB is made of a highly sensitive and fragile membrane, largely comprised of fatty acids, which is particularly vulnerable to the oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

The supposition is therefore that oxidative stress upon the body may lead to reduced effectiveness of the BBB, with a consequently increased likelihood of degenerative health problems within the brain and nervous system; the best known of these being Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. This supposition has been borne out by laboratory experiments on rats, which have also shown that zinc deficiency in these animals significantly reduces the strength of the BBB.

Ron

So would Zinc supplements be considered a treatment for those with Alzheimer's and Parkinsons's?

Hi Coachmomlu,
Yes, that is what it is saying,

"Not surprisingly, therefore, nutritional therapists make a strong case for routine zinc supplementation, particularly for the older population, and commonly recommend a daily protective dose of 15-25 mg of zinc per day."

However, every substance has a limit, and you should not exceed the recommended dose.
Ron

There's a really fascinating article though linking damage to specific brain cells directly from the digestive system. Rats or mice or whatever were given one of the known PD producers like rotenone in their food and the cells that were destroyed were exactly the ones that cause PD. So I guess we ARE what we EAT after all. I do suspect multiple causes but that particular article was really interesting.