Hi all,
I am wondering about balancing ph- becoming more alkaline and less acidic. I know that some diseases thrive in an acidic body. I am not saying this could be a cure but could this affect our overall health and in turn help our pd? I was searching for answers on balance, (actual physical balance) and latched onto this info about ph and how we can balance our bodies from the inside out. So I am coming to you that have such a wealth of scientific knowledge to ask what you think. I apologize if this has been covered in the past.
cs

I have wondered about the very same thing. I would be interested in what any of you know as well. Along the same lines... is anyone into food combining? The "Fit for Life" thing was a big seller about 15 or more years ago and I still hear it mentioned now and again. I believe its based on Ph acid/alk balance.

This crosses my mind at times too. I had a friend who kept losing weight and her husband finally took her to the ER when she started to actually have a strange odor. Her PH balance was so off that her body was actually feeding on itself.

Kinda scary but she is fine now.
Paula

is that our bodies are normally very efficient at keeping the pH of our insides, a major aspect of our "milleu interieur", pretty constant. Our body tissues, including blood, are equipped with buffering substances and processes that effectively neutralize either acidic or alkaline substances both inside and outside of our cells. Most extracellular fluids are thus maintained at a constant pH of 7.4, very slightly alkaline on the pH scale. Except for certain normal variations I will describe below, deviations of even 0.5 pH unit from this in these fluids are uncommon and can be life-threatening.

Under a number of pathological circumstances, the most common of which is severe, untreated insulin-dependent diabetes, acids produced by the abnormal metabolism of fats can quickly build up, resulting in life-threatening keto-acidosis, with blood pH dropping as low as 6.7.

Other fairly common causes of acidosis are disruption of respriation by COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as severe emphasema or asthma. CO2 builds up in the blood because it can't be efficiently excreted through the lungs. Even then, the pH decreases only slightly because of the buffering efficiency of the blood.

Urine pH can vary more widely than that of blood, and is affected by thinigs such as diet and degree of hydration, but is generally in the slightly acidic range, pH 5.5 to 7.2.

pH in the digestive tract may normally be as low as 1.5-2.0 in the stomach as a result of secretion of the hydrochloric acid needed for gastric digestion, and as high as 7.7 in the small intestine due to neutralization by the "alkaline tide" provided by pancreatic secretions. This is required for the pancreatic and intestinal enzymes to become activated and complete the breakdown of dietary carbohydrates, fats and proteins into the sugars, fatty acids and amino acids our bodies use as fuels and "building blocks".

Rare diseases, some of which may be familial, or genetically transmitted, can result in the accumulation abnormal metabolic products or abnormally high quantites of normal products, some of which may be acids. These can cause harmful pH changes in the body that overwhelm its otherwise normalizing "homeostatic" processes.

Glad you brought this up. Some of you may remember that my PD symptons set in massively over night and one of the most striking changes that affected me intimately was that my body odor had suddenly changed to become more "acid" or "sour". That morning I woke up in a sweat and my t-shirt smelled of fear.
Although I didn't know it then, it was the smell of PD, it was an odour I had always intimately related to my granny who had PD, and which I noticed on her cold skin whenever I hugged or kissed her. My poor, sweet, little old granny...there were no PD meds in the 60's/early 70's and she suffered the full scope of symptons unmedicated until they killed her.
Actually, we don't realize how lucky we are after all!

The primary fault in Parkinson's Disease is the insufficient formation of dopamine :

L-tyrosine >>> L-dopa >>> dopamine

Each of these two steps is enabled by an enzyme. An enzyme is a substance that enables a biochemical reaction to take place in the body, usually by turning one substance in to another.

The activity of enzymes IS affected negatively by acidity. An increase in acidity could therefore, in theory at least, reduce the formation of dopamine, and thereby increase Parkinson's Disease symptoms.

As Robert has detailed, there are mechanisms in the body aimed at maintaining the proper level of acidity, but as with most things in the body they are not always sufficient.

for your input, I appreciate your time--food for thought