[shetawk]

In my quest to discover the source of the "idiopathic" part of Parkinson's, even though I had no symptoms, I had a stool analysis as a last ditch effort to find a cause and then could possibly prevent more progression. Result was: giardia infestation.

I was stunned because I don't fit the profile of risky behavior. I wash my hands constantly, am very careful about washing food and my dishes and flatware are sterilized in the dishwasher. I don't drink from rivers or streams and used to drink city water (now drink bottled because city water can also be a source). Also, I've had no symptoms so I don't how long I was infected.

Of course I googled "giardia parkinson's" and found this:

http://www.coreonehealth.com/common-...s-and-bacteria

"Giardia also produces neurotoxins—toxins that harm the nervous system. These toxins cause depression, sleep disorders, and an inability to concentrate, among other symptoms. Giardia is linked to autoimmune disease, particularly with neurological autoimmune processes such as multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Parkinson’s disease."


And this, which is the process of causing leaky gut to give birth to autoimmunity:
https://online.epocrates.com/u/29243...asics/Etiology

"Pathogenesis of giardiasis is not completely understood and several hypotheses exist. Theories include direct damage to the brush border intestinal mucosa either by trophozoites or by host immune-response activation..

..Giardia disrupts tight junctions in human intestinal monolayers, which increases epithelial permeability [24] [25] and results in fat malabsorption. Weight loss and malabsorption of fat-soluble vitamins, lactose, and vitamin B12 are commonly seen in chronic giardiasis. Children can present with failure to thrive.

Giardia induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in infected cells. [26] [27] This causes malabsorption of sodium, water, and glucose and reduced disaccharidase activity due to loss of absorptive surface area of the epithelium."

Have you had a stool analysis or endoscopy with giardia positive? I'd like to know if this could be a factor that the neuros haven't investigated.

I found another website that lists giardia infestation as a diagnostic marker of PD.

Egg or chicken first? Have they looked? Lynn

[Conductor71]

Great research! I think in the end analysis this will come down to some really obvious things like bacterial or viral infection and air pollution. Of course this has been overlooked by research because medical research is really conformist, yet it is through mistakes and bold ideas we progress.

I have not even considered Giardia because my mom's cat had it and she is now paranoid over washing the cat's bowl with other dishes. I could see by hand but she insists it cannot even go in the dishwasher! I dismissed her because she tends to over react, but you now have me wondering if she is not so off the mark.

I do know that Giardia is ubiquitous in the environment; it is readily found in soils and groundwater. Even if you are a an avid hand washer, if you were working on your yard and had any sort of cut... I do recall from mom's cat that it is highly transmissible and notoriously hard to eradicate. Interesting thing is most vets do not screen for it. We have always had cats as pets in our family and this cat was the first we had ever heard of Giardia.

Thanks for all the info! Have there been any case studies linking PD to Giardia? If you eradicate it will symptoms improve?

It is annoying how we must resort to being our own researcher and doctor because the most obvious things in the world get overlooked.

Laura

[soccertese]

in the n.w., you can't safely drink the water in the mountains because giardia is everywhere. lots more animal sources than cats.
aS dna analysis and population statistics shows, there is a small genetic component and a huge environmental component to pd. if one identical twin gets pd, the other twin usually doesn't.

the fact that the chances that a brother or sister getting pd are incredibly small even though everyone would be exposed to a family cat ....

[paula_w]

my oldest daughter got salmonella and giardia when she was just 13 months. they treated us all for it as standard procedure when guardia is present in a family member.

paula

[shetawk]

Yes, I was treated and am going for check test since I had no symptoms and don't know whether the treatment worked. Also having hub tested.

[paula_w]

Originally Posted by shetawk

Yes, I was treated and am going for check test since I had no symptoms and don't know whether the treatment worked. Also having hub tested.

it took a powerful antibiotic to treat it. i forget the name - it was at the same time as all the other high risk events that could have led to pd were happening so i could take my pick.

[shetawk]

I took Flagyl.