this is a good starting point. if you research arguments for using mucana, many seem to cite this one study with humans mentioned in this article.
http://home.cogeco.ca/~allan/beans.html

there are commercial preparations in india, one called zandopa and i think there are a few studies using them. you can buy standardized mucana in capsule form from places like iherb or in bulk form, sometimes under the name Kapi Kacchu(Mucuna pruriens). have tried both and didn't notice any affect but i admit only tried a few capsules supposdlly having 100mg levodopa and 1large tbsp of raw mucana,

lot's of anecdotes, lot's of discussion about it on this board. i have no doubt if you take enough you'll experience some pd relief. i'm not debating that. i"m just not believing it is better than C/L. i'd be very happy if it was and/or was a useful adjunct to C/L. A number of people have posted here that they added it to C/L and get longer on times but i've never seen any followup posts saying it was still being used.

The sad fact is big drug companies with billions in profit every year would never test the superior Mucuna Pruriens against their patented products in any way period. That is a loss situation for them on something that cannot be controlled for profit. A win for us because we can grow and purchase it cheaply and reap the benefits of this powerful medicine. The link provided previous is a great place to start your research.

[/QUOTE]from Soccertese:

have you tried mucana? if so, how's it working and if i may ask, when were you diagnosed, have you tried C/L and what are your symptoms? sorry to be so nosy but i take discussions implying mucana is a better drug than C/L or is a useful adjunct to C/L very seriously.

btw, organic doesn't mean they irrigated with perfectly clean water or the soil wasn't somehow contaminated with heavy metals from a coal power plant next door. i'd rather eat something grown hydroponically in a sterile environment using all chemical fertilizer than something grown organically in china or india. just my opinion. there was a recent salmonella outbreak from organically grown spinach in colorado or california. cuz the plant roots can't absorb proteins to get their nitrogen, the protein in the organic fertilizer has to break down into ammonia or nitrate to be absorbed, same with all the other plant nutrients. unless it's a legume that can get NH3 from a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria.[/QUOTE]

Soccertese,

I haven't yet tried mucuna. But I'm at the point when I'll try most anything, short of vodoo (tho having witnessed a Brazilian ceremony, I might be persuaded to give that a try . I was diagnosed 7 years ago and have classic symptoms -- no left arm swing, trouble swallowing,quieter speech, mild tremor in left arm, etc. Have seen 5 different neurologists all of whom have confirmed initial diagnosis, and all of whom have prescribed C/L. I've taken it off and on for 4 years. Trouble is, it doesn't have much effect other than to give me mild nausea and a case of the yawns. The last MDS I saw also gave me some Neupro patches which didn't do anything either. No ons; no offs. So I thought I might as well give mucuna a try. I don't believe because it's "natural" that it is naturally better. I just am running out of options. I'll let you know the result.

Jon

ps: O.T. I assume from your log-in name you follow the world cup. Pretty victory the other night. Always 2-0 at Columbus!?!

questions
1. how about telling if you have pd, when were diagnosed, what your symptoms are when off and what other drugs/supps you are taking.
2. if you are taking mucana, what the doseage is, how many times a day, if in capsule form or raw flour and if capsules how many/dose? what brand, where do you get it and how much does it cost/dose?
3. if you have pd, do you still work? what are your symptoms when on?

the research you have mentioned doesn't compare C/L to mucana in humans. as for blaming the drug companies for mucana not being widely used, that is nonsense.
a tiny company did a tiny study testing coq10 and concluded that 1200mg/day might be neuroprotective. thousands of pd'ers started taking coq10 which in 1200mg qty's costs up to $200 back then. coq10 isn't on patent. neither is C/L.
The roadblock to commercializing mucana is the FDA, not drug companies. There was a recent trial with nasal delivered glutathione and there was a trial with IV glutathione, and glutathione is certainly not patented. There have been dozens of trials testing exercise on pd, don't think you have to patent that. I believe if mucana was without a doubt better than C/L someone would have done the necessary trials by now and we wouldn't be having this "discussion". As far as not being able to make money of it cuz you can't patent it, i wouldn't doubt pd'ers would pay for quality and safety.

when i'm driving my car or at work, i have to have easy and dependable medication. i don't care if it's a herb or a pharmaceutical.

from Soccertese:

have you tried mucana? if so, how's it working and if i may ask, when were you diagnosed, have you tried C/L and what are your symptoms? sorry to be so nosy but i take discussions implying mucana is a better drug than C/L or is a useful adjunct to C/L very seriously.

btw, organic doesn't mean they irrigated with perfectly clean water or the soil wasn't somehow contaminated with heavy metals from a coal power plant next door. i'd rather eat something grown hydroponically in a sterile environment using all chemical fertilizer than something grown organically in china or india. just my opinion. there was a recent salmonella outbreak from organically grown spinach in colorado or california. cuz the plant roots can't absorb proteins to get their nitrogen, the protein in the organic fertilizer has to break down into ammonia or nitrate to be absorbed, same with all the other plant nutrients. unless it's a legume that can get NH3 from a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria.[/QUOTE]

Soccertese,

I haven't yet tried mucuna. But I'm at the point when I'll try most anything, short of vodoo (tho having witnessed a Brazilian ceremony, I might be persuaded to give that a try . I was diagnosed 7 years ago and have classic symptoms -- no left arm swing, trouble swallowing,quieter speech, mild tremor in left arm, etc. Have seen 5 different neurologists all of whom have confirmed initial diagnosis, and all of whom have prescribed C/L. I've taken it off and on for 4 years. Trouble is, it doesn't have much effect other than to give me mild nausea and a case of the yawns. The last MDS I saw also gave me some Neupro patches which didn't do anything either. No ons; no offs. So I thought I might as well give mucuna a try. I don't believe because it's "natural" that it is naturally better. I just am running out of options. I'll let you know the result.

Jon

ps: O.T. I assume from your log-in name you follow the world cup. Pretty victory the other night. Always 2-0 at Columbus!?![/QUOTE]

yes, i'm a soccer philosopher, not much of an american men's soccer fan, and being the curmudgeon that i am i really don't like watching the word cup, tough to play great soccer when you put together a bunch of all stars together that don't practice much. i'd rather watch a really good college or high schoo or boys premiere game or a professional league game outside the U.S.
ok, back to pd. your're in a tough spot to say the least. kind of doubt mucana is going to help if C/L doesn't help but you'll know soon enough if it does and i'd be interested in your results. what dose of C/L were you taking? did you try taking extra LODYSON (carbidopa) to try to alleviate the nausea?
5 neurologists? why so many? just nosy.

Abstract

Dopaminergic anti-parkinsonian medications, such as levodopa (LD) cause drug-induced dyskinesias (DID) in majority of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Mucuna pruriens, a legume extensively used in Ayurveda to treat PD, is reputed to provide anti-parkinsonian benefits without inducing DID. We compared the behavioral effects of chronic parenteral administration of a water extract of Mucuna pruriens seed powder (MPE) alone without any additives, MPE combined with the peripheral dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor (DDCI) benserazide (MPE+BZ), LD+BZ and LD alone without BZ in the hemiparkinsonian rat model of PD. A battery of behavioral tests assessed by blinded investigators served as outcome measures in these randomized trials. In experiment 1, animals that received LD+BZ or MPE+BZ at high (6mg/Kg) and medium (4mg/Kg) equivalent doses demonstrated significant alleviation of parkinsonism, but, developed severe dose-dependent DID. LD+BZ at low doses (2mg/Kg) did not provide significant alleviation of parkinsonism. In contrast, MPE+BZ at an equivalent low dose significantly ameliorated parkinsonism. In experiment 2, MPE without any additives (12mg/Kg and 20mg/Kg LD equivalent dose) alleviated parkinsonism with significantly less DID compared to LD+BZ or MPE+BZ. In experiment 3, MPE without additives administered chronically provided long-term anti-parkinsonian benefits without causing DID. In experiment 4, MPE alone provided significantly more behavioral benefit when compared to the equivalent dose of synthetic LD alone without BZ. In experiment 5, MPE alone reduced the severity of DID in animals initially primed with LD+BZ. These findings suggest that Mucuna pruriens contains water soluble ingredients that either have an intrinsic DDCI-like activity or mitigate the need for an add-on DDCI to ameliorate parkinsonism. These unique long-term antiparkinsonian effects of a parenterally administered water extract of Mucuna pruriens seed powder may provide a platform for future drug discoveries and novel treatment strategies in PD.

badboy, it appears this abstract is another animal study, which, unfortunately, in the world of PD research has not had a lot of relevance when trying to replicate with humans.

I wonder if in the future, when you post research abstracts, you can also include a link to the site you copied it from. It makes it much easier for the rest of us to see the full study, who did the research, where and when it was published, etc. That goes a long way to helping the members determine the relevance of the research.

Thank you,

Gary