Ron posted long ago that in his considerable experience in the lab, they focused on the theory that answered the most questions about the problem they were trying to solve. Too bad pharma doesn't seem to be using this approach, but I digress.

Here on this forum we've posted lots of questions about PD, and as time has gone on I've wondered, like most, what could possibly answer those questions. I was going to post this on Ron's thread about Dr. Jannetta's MVD surgery, but didn't want to hijack his thread (plus I happen to totally disagree that MVD is more invasive and/or dangerous than DBS). So....

I recently learned that our veins and arteries not only get more brittle as we age, we all know this, but that they get LONGER. Increasingly longer and more brittle blood vessels, and there are tons of them in the brain, vying for space in a fixed, inflexible environment, such as a skull, will necessarily cause problems. You have a fixed volume of space and no room, really, for expansion.

I also recently read that depending on where one has vascular compression in the brain, that will dictate what symptoms he/she may exhibit. Makes sense.

So, if PD is caused in whole or part by some sort of vascular tension/malfunction in the brain, to me this answers many questions:

1. why mostly older people get it (more longer blood vessels as we age)
2. why symptoms vary so much (different compression points, and of differing intensities)
3. why stress flares symptoms up for all PWP
4. why increasingly younger people are getting PD (our diet is all wrong, from birth to grave we are eating starch, starch, and more starch which does not keep blood vessels supple and smooth, among other problems)
5. why PD does not improve, and actually gets worse...the cells are in a drought, not enough blood/oxygen/nutrients being delivered due to vascular malfunction, and the area stricken by the drought only gets larger as the PWP gets older and his/her blood vessels get longer and more brittle, exacerbating the problem and increasing the number and severity of symptoms (it gets worse, at least, until you improve the circulatory issues, allowing more life-giving blood/oxygen to the drought-stricken area, I believe this is what happened to Dr. Jannetta's patient)
6. why sinemet temporarily helps (the dopamine-producing cells are starved since they are not getting enough oxygen...sinemet provides something the brain on its own is not producing enough of)

I could go on. But I will add this: my mom recently passed at 76, no PD, her mother a few years ago at 93 I believe it was, also no PD, and all of my mom's five siblings are alive and PD-free so far, all are over age 70. My mom's family was a farm family and ate what they could grow, and were rarely if ever sick. Sure they ate potatoes and bread, but nothing like the diet my generation and the ones following me grew up eating. I believe all the starch, and lack of fresh vegetables somehow causes blood vessels to become prematurely brittle and longer, which results in younger people getting PD. All the vaccinations forced upon us don't help, but I really think the lack of copious amounts of vegetables is critical. I wonder how many vegetarians have PD and if so, what their stories are?

Keep in mind Dr. Wahl, the doctor with MS who is in remission...she attributes her recovery to the enormous quantities of healthy vegetables she eats every day, no sugars, and little to no grains.

So I guess my theory is that vascular malfunction of some sort is causative in PD, and that the vascular malfunction is in turn caused by pretty much a complete disregard of how we really should be eating as humans. I love a good steak and potato meal myself, but in reality, this is not a sustainable way to eat, and not a meal I could ever track, capture, kill, and prepare myself on a regular basis.

Disclaimer: these are just my humble musings, I'm no doctor or scientist and don't even have any type of medical background.