Thanks. So it crosses the BBB and goes right to the heart of the matter. However, I am a kittle uncomfortable about some of the drugs that it interacts with. A lot of them sound familiar so we need to watch what we are taking along with it. On the bright side there has been a lot of it sold over the years without reports of much nastiness. I still lean toward the green tea though.

Steve, good to hear you have taken an interest in opioid anatagonists (dextromethorphan or naltrexone). I hope your good response to the DM cough syrrup you have been taking for just a few weeks is real!! If so, and we really can't say maybe for years, this could be as big as Sinemet. Dr. Hong and his group at the NIH have published some very interesting papers on these opioid antagonists. One of his points is that they may "work" at femtomolar or very low doses and that they seem to halt or slow progression (in rodents) of many neuro diseases like PD or Alzheimers. Who knows but maybe we've stumbled on something that really can help. I remember when I first started LDN 32 months ago, I believe, my balance and thinking improved. I am still very reluctant to say LDN works as claimed but I am hoping very much that it does.
When I get to work Monday, I will try to put some of the Dr. Hong dextromrthorphan papers here. I'm sorry the subject sort of changed, I know I am a one issue poster. I also found a paper with BBB mentioned in it which I haven't fully read (or understood) and will try to post.
I really, really hope DM works for you Steve, Ashley

...for goodness sake, take five minutes to do my timed balance on each leg first and write it down. If it starts to increase then let us know right away.

Just stand on one foot and count chimpanzees for as long as you can. Start over until you get a stable count. Repeat on the other leg. It will take the guess work out of it.

You, too, can be a Junior Brain Scientist!

Since the BBB permeabilty is also of importance in MS, I posted the data there. The following replies were posted.

02-22-2007, 10:00 PM #2
wannabe
Member


Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: in MS land
Posts: 141

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronhutton
CONCLUSIONS

In PD, the BBB plays a major and very significant part, and merits much more research into methods of controlling the permeability of the BBB. A process that locks down the BBB to all but the few allowed molecules, must be found. It then must be tried on newly diagnosed patients, to establish whether it stops progression of the disease. Then it needs to be tried with advanced sufferers, to establish whether neurogenesis, or birth of new cells, whilst preventing any influx of toxins causing loss of established cells, means that a gradual recovery takes place.
Similarly, the process to totally tighten the BBB needs to be tried on ALS and MS patients, in a similar manner.
BBB porosity does not seem to be the major cause of AD, but it may make a significant improvement in the quality of life of AD sufferers.

Thanks Ron. The new MS medication Tysabri does just what you suggest, it alters blood-brain barrier permeability by inhibiting adhesion molecules. Unfortunately a seemingly rare side effect seen to date is that if there are latent infections in the CNS already, by shutting the immune system out of the CNS, these latent infections can run amuck and cause great damage. The JC Virus is the one seen and some patients developed PML, a very devastating condition, while on Tysabri. It's still too early to know if there are other infectious concerns with the use of Tysabri, but it has been shown to increase infection rates in those taking it.

Thanks for sharing your work though. It would sure help if there were more paragraph breaks - much easier for us MSer's to read.
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From DoctorJ
Are you familiar with the "Sleeping Sickness" virus that occurred between the end of the 1800's the early 1900's that has been tied to Parkinson's? I think there is real clue as to the origin of Parkinson's there. ( http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=4&gl=us )

John

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I am not familiar with the new MS medication Tysabri, but Wannabe implies it closes down the BBB. However, there seems to be a possible doubt on its safety.


The reference frpm DOCTORJ, is interesting, since viruses like the
great encephalitis epidemic of 1918-1926, open up the BBB, but only for the period of the disease.

Ron

My mom suffered encephalitis at age 18 during that epidemic. She developed PD symptoms at around age 35. When she was finally diagnosed with Parkinsons at 40, it was thought to have been related to the encephalitis.
Robert

Thanks Ashley..I hope it continues to work as well..I was very taken aback by the changes in my symptoms, and its been consistant..but as we all know we have to wait for the test of time..You have really inspired me to try these alternative possible remedies..The fact that your condition has not changed in 32 months is remarkable..It is possible that it could be a Sinamet honeymoon, but one would think there would be some progression in that amount of time..Its impossible to compare ones condition against anothers because we are all different..but when you weigh out the probabilities, it is possible that the LDN is working for you..and at this stage of the game for me, Ive decided that I have to give it an honest try..Ive progressed at a moderate rate in 32 months, and there has been no Sinamet honeymoon for me..The Sinamet helps, but Im still very symptomatic..the only answer to that is more Sinamet, more Mirapex, more whatever..When I first got on the Sinamet regimen I got a jolt for about 2 months..trying to balance in Mirapex..and then it went downhill and basically back to square one, and I was now either going to have to increase my meds or try something else

This is a report on the probable causes and progression of PF, it does mention the blood brain barrier. I don't pretend to fully understand it. In the Dr. Hong reports as well, neuro-inflammation caused my over active, anti-body, microglia (killer cells?) seems to be the reason for the loss of dopamine cells. I think this report mentions how certain areas of the brain are more susceptical to these microglia cells. This report also believes, as Dr Hong at NIH, that anti-inflammatory drugs (they don't say which ones) can be used to suppress these over active microglia cells. If opioid antagonist drugs really can slow or halt PD, they are here now, they're cheap with minimal side effects. Good news for us, not for the drug companies.
Ashley

For full report, open FULL TEXT (PDF) in blue menu to right.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract