Almost 15 years come and gone. Know anyone who tried "ferriascorbate"?


1. Gerontology. 1987;33(3-4):168-71.

Dopamine action and disorders of neurotransmitter balance.

Birkmayer W, Birkmayer JD.

Evangelic Hospital, Vienna, Austria.

Disorders of neurotransmitter balance are observed in Parkinson's disease,
pharmacotoxic psychosis and depression. The dopamine-serotonin ratio is reduced
to about 20% in Parkinson and pharmacotoxic patients in the caudate nucleus and
in the substantia nigra. The serotonin content in these brain areas is lowered
only to about 50% in comparison to that of the control, whereas the dopamine
level is reduced to 85% in Parkinson patients. This dopamine deficiency has been
substituted by exogenous supply of L-dopa in combination with decarboxylase and
monoaminooxydase inhibitors. First evidence is presented that L-dopa can be
replaced, at least partially, by iron in form of a ferriascorbate complex. This
iron compound improves the symptoms of Parkinson's disease to almost the same
extent as L-dopa.


PMID: 3653699 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Just another thing to add to my long list of things I've read, since my diagnosis 4 years ago, that seem so promising & then you never hear another word. I recently read an article in The Atlantic (I think) that explained why med research is long on promising new ideas but short on follow-through. Has to do with what's most attractive to fund.

I've always read that iron is bad for PD, so not sure how this relates, are you???

Peony-

I, too, have gotten disgusted with the pattern of trumpeting a new discovery only to have it slip beneath the waves never to be heard of again.

There are only a few possible explanations -
1) the original science was bad (mistakes, ignorance, etc)
2) the control was purchased by investors who eventually decided that the profit was not there
3) investors saw it as a threat to their existing investments and so bought it up and hid it away for now
4) the researcher felt so bad when he realized that his work was going to cost someone a lot of money, decided to blow dry his hair while sitting in the tub with a bottle of whiskey, and lets his depression get the better of him.

Seriously, however, I have quite a list of such things that I need to organize. If you (or anyone else) has similar info and wants to contribute I will see to it that you get a final copy. Email below.
-Rick