Everything I have read says that all viruses are contagious, otherwise they would die out (have to have a host, apparently). The methods of spreading from one host to another vary, such as the common cold (simply breathing in the air) versus AIDS (actual physical involvement).

So then the question becomes, if a virus or viruses are involved in PD, why haven't the spouses and children of the family member with PD fallen ill also? I tried to search this out and everything I found said PD is NOT contagious and I was unable to find more than two isolated and non-related cases where both spouses had PD (or a PD and Lewey Body). And MJF had children AFTER dx, and his wife and beautiful family look the picture of perfect health. This makes me wonder if a virus might not be involved after all.

Maybe the virus sets the stage but isn't the actual catalyst. Or maybe the non-PD spouse has superior immunity to the virus and just doesn't get it despite contact (but then I think how impossible that really is-all nonPD spouses can't be THAT healthy!). hmmmmm...

This link is to an NIH online text "Polymicrobial Diseases" and a discussion of combined virus/bacteria diseases. It is actually readable-

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshel...d&part=IV.bxml

and this one takes you to a site about the Marshall Protocol which is very similar to what you are looking for.

Hi Lurkingforacure,
You are doing the right thing asking yourself such questions. It is a surefire way of making progress in research.
I think combined with "What if?" you can make progress. What if having a virus like the Herpes virus, or an infection like Helicobacter Pilori, needed to be combined with a defective BBB? There is no rule which says you can't have two things wrong with you at the same time, and the odds can't be too high.
The Herpes virus is widespread, yet many people have it who don't have PD. The same thing goes for many infections. However, if you are unlucky enough to have maybe a genetic fault rendering you to have a dysfunctional BBB, you would be at the mercy of every virus and bacteria lurking in your system.
See the reference in my last post,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0902221735.htm
The most common symptom of infection is a cold sore, but in some individuals the virus can also cause life-threatening inflammation of the brain (encephalitis);

Such infections are shown to lead to brain inflammmation, due to the leaky BBB. If you add "who have a defective BBB" after "some individuals, it makes a lot more sense. In a healthy person, (with a functioning BBB) they can be infected with the odd virus or bacteria, and the toxins circulate harmlessly in the blood. When you suffer from a leaky BBB, they get into the brain.
If you read my past posts, you will see everything which tightens the permeability of the BBB (like curcumin), improves symptoms, everything which widens it, like stress, causes an accentuatuation of PD. It all becomes a lot clearer, yet it is not a far fetched explanation.
Ron

Or maybe there is a genetic predisposition in the one (PD) person that is not in the other.

This recent thread adds a bit more to PD and autoimmunity discussion. Bumping it up.

Girija

Lara,
I think the simple reason why spouses do not get PD as well, is although they may probably get infected with the same virus or infection, they have a good functioning BBB which keeps out the toxins from the brain.
Those of us with PD, have it because we have lost the protection of our BBB. Our BBB is dysfunctional, and allows substances into the brain that it should keep out. It is possible a leaky BBB is genetic.
I remember William Frey in one of his publications years ago, said "If a leaky BBB allows bad things into the brain, it could be used to allow good things in too". He then did the research on using it as a method of drug delivery via the nasal route.
Ron

Dr. Robert O. Becker -who was born in 1923 & passed away in 2008
was a great mind - he had many theories about electromagnetic energy fields.
in his book Cross Currents - Chapter 11
http://omega.twoday.net/20060718/

Dr. Becker refers to several neurodegenerative illnesses as -
the "New Plagues" - and he specifically calls "Parkinson's Disease"
one of these plagues...
do the research...
http://www.emfbioshield.com/books/crosscurrents.html
we need to think for ourselves.

I'm trying to not overstep the bounds of copyright here. It's difficult trying to cut down a very long article.

From Medscape Nurses.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/574944_1
From Laboratory Medicine
Chronic Bacterial and Viral Infections in Neurodegenerative and Neurobehavioral Diseases

Posted 06/23/2008
Author Information
Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, Department of Molecular Pathology, The Institute for Molecular Medicine, Huntington Beach, CA

<snipped article>

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