Has anyone experienced improvement with a particular diet? I'm not talking about avoiding protein with meds, but an actual diet.

We were toying with going macrobiotic, which is very bean-grain based, and has had some pretty remarkable results in putting some folk's cancer into remission.

Then I have been reading about the diet used by parents of kids with autism, with equally fantastic results....very little bean and grain. I have always suspected a link between autism and PD, and indeed, the book I am currently reading hints at such and talks about two family trees, where if your child has a family history of the any of the diseases in these trees, they are much more likely to have a vaccine reaction (ie autism). The diseases are Alzheimers, depression, bipolar, and on and on....on the other tree are the autoimmunes like lupus, MS, fibromyalgia, etc.

If you have little kids like we do or grandkids, you might want to check into their risk for PD (or other "neuroanomolies" like ADD, autism, etc.) when combined with the now 36 shots the CDC wants our kids to get between birth and 6 years of age. Just reading the ingredients in those shots (aluminum, to name one) makes me sick, and it should be no surprise why the number of autism cases was 1 in 10,000 in 1983 (when only ten shots were required) compared to now 1 in 150 in 1008 (now 36 shots being required).

but back to diet....anyone tried one, or on one, that seems to help? thanks.

I have been having a number of problems over the last couple of months culminating in an awful lot of time spent off and freezing. As in as much as eight to ten hours per day.

In casting about, I began reading about gluten and its problems. I tried a week without grains and seemed to see some improvement toward the end of the trial but was seduced by pasta at the critical moment. But I returned to the idea and began again last Friday and am in Day Five of a serious effort. I'm even keeping a log! Here are the total amount of time spent in an off state for each day so far:
Day 1: 8 hrs+
Day 2: 5 hrs
Day 3: 3.5 hrs
Day 4: 3 hrs

Day 4 might have been skewed by the fact that I woke up at 3:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. Got up and screwed up my schedules. Slept well last night though.

Yesterday I noted that a persistent bloating sensation was gone and that a dry skin problem under my eyeglasses was improved.

Unlike my usual experiments, I am trying not to add other variables and thus far have been successful.

Also, I should add that on Day One I was still in a phase where I was taking extra meds to cope with a shortened effective period. Have dropped back to normal dosing.

The idea is that some of us (blood type "O" in particular) are genetically unhappy with gluten, a protein found mainly in wheat, barley, and rye. We don't digest it properly. When we get under stress, have an infection, or anything else that causes the Gut Blood Barrier (GBB) to leak, these poorly digested proteins get into areas where they do not belong and upset our immune system.

If you remember Ron's bad tooth experience, an unhappy immune system is no joke. It can cause both acute effects like Ron's, but also long term auto-immune problems. The latter extreme is celiac disease, but there is a spectrum of sensitivities out here.

Some thoughts-
1- The same things that open the GBB also open the BBB and vice versa. So those proteins get into the brain as well.
2- Stress opens both gates. We know how stress affects us day-to-day. We also know that it is common for PWP to have a major stressor just before onset. And progression is often a stair-step pattern rather than an incline.
3- Variable sensitivity and random stress events could explain why some of us progress slowly while others drop like a stone. Why have my offs, for example, gotten more frequent but not more intense over the last ten years? The problem with walking is what sent me to the neuro to begin with and has not changed much. That seems odd.
4- Gluten sensitivity can cause a lot of symptoms but neurological ones in particular. In fact, I cannot find a single symptom of PD that cannot be also from GS. Even the responsiveness to levodopa!

Check this site out-
http://glutenfreeworks.com/gluten_sensitivity.php
http://glutenfreeworks.com/gluteninformation.php

Also, wander over to NeuroTalk's Celiac Forum and check out "The Gluten File".

There is an excellent gluten free pasta made from brown rice.
It is actually better than wheat pasta IMO.

Tinkyada, comes from Canada and is in most health food stores.
The other pastas leave me cold. Tinkyada is always ala dente too unless hugely overcooked.

Beans have their own problems.... the lectins on some, esp the red kidney beans are not easy to tolerate for some people.

There are some excellent books about diet/disease. Ann Louise Gittleman has one called Your Body Knows Best.
And she has others. Being a dietitian she tried macrobiotic and didn't do well on it. And explains why, and explains the new research into ethnicity and food intolances. Tony D'Adamo also has Eat Right 4 Your Type. A classic that explains lectins and how some people genetically cannot handle the lectins on certain foods. Your blood type, and where you came from appear to be critical for choosing the best foods for you.

I read both books a while back...they are really fascinating!

http://books.google.com/books?id=4Wy...num=5#PPR11,M1

http://books.google.com/books?id=jvy...esult&resnum=5

I am desperately seeking people who will try a gluten free diet for Parkinson's.

I am convinced the disease is caused by an interaction between gluten antibodies and herpes virus infection.

The diet probably won't take away all of your symptoms without antiviral treatment but I believe it's necessary nontheless.

Please come see my research here.
www.zombieinstitute.net

Thanks,
Heidi

We are eating gluten free now. It has been about 2 years now. It has made a tremendous difference. He still has all the usual symptoms, and is on the same med schedule, but the big difference we see (and it has been life changing) is that he no longer has those horrific and disabling muscle contractions in his back (you know how the muscle gets hard like a bone?... don't know what to call it. someone else called it a siezure). Even the tiny amount of gluten found in canned soup will leave him in terrible shape. We stumbled upon this quite by accident. I don't understand the science of it at all, I just know that it has made a life changing difference.

Rick, the book I am reading is called "Healing and Preventing Autism" by Jenny McCarthy (who healed her own son after he lapsed into autism she claims was vaccine-caused) and Dr. Jerry Kartizinel, whose fourth son became autistic afer vaccination.

It is fascinating reading, and the book is essentially an interview between McCarthy, asking questions, and Dr. Kartzinel, answering. He knows of what he speaks, as his practice focuses on these children.

From what I understand, a lot of autistic kids have a leaky gut, caused either by or aggravated by yeast overgrowth, or other things (including an inflammtory condition in the bowel...more on this later) which makes the gut even leakier. We all know what that means.

Cutting to the chase, so far the books recommends the following to help with reducing yeast in the gut (can't get rid of all of it, because all humans have some yeast in us, the problem is when the yeast population is too high)...

stop eating sugars, which only fuel the growth of more yeast, and far more quickly than the body can respond
use antifungals and probiotics
use digestive enzymes
make sure you use the restroom daily (not possible for many, but I think the point here is to be regular and avoid constipation).

Now on the bowel: I have read that a very large majority of PDers experiencing constipation prior to the typical symptom onset: to me, this supports the theory that PD actually begins somewhere other than the brain, and it is only later, when it has "spread", if you will, that the brain becomes affected and we rush to the doc.

I bring all of this up because I am thinking that if they are healing autistic kids with diet/supplements, and autism is related and/or shares many of the same core symptoms, then that same diet/supplement regime might help those with PD.

It is encouraging to read that those who have been able to get off gluten have noticed improvement...I have yet to read that anyone with PD who got off gluten did not improve in some way. Thanks to all for sharing their input.

PD shares characteristics with not only autism, but also schizophrenia, bipolar, diabetes type 2, alzheimer's, and metabolic syndrome - in short, that cluster of mysteries that challenge science at the start of the 21st century. There is a connection somewhere.

One possibility is the idea that stress sensitivity increases across generations. We know that a stressed pregnant rat will give birth to a stress sensitized pup. The interesting part is that even though there is no further stress, the grandpups will also be stress sensitive. Then, even more interesting, last week there was a study showing that traumatic stress of a rat even weeks before she became pregnant affected her pups in a similar manner. Stress sensitivity builds up over the generations in a stressful society. It has to come out somewhere.

...It is now nearly 7:00 PM and I have been off exactly one hour today and its depth was about half the usual. Particularly interesting was that the cognitive portion was way down.

So, over the five day period starting from a baseline of 8 to 9 hours, I have gone down as follows: 8, 5, 4, 3, 1 (rounded to nearest hour). Also the meds are working noticeably better.

Some questions-
Did gluten problems cause my PD? I don't think so, but I do believe that it made it far worse. And maybe it can cause it sometimes. Maybe Heidi is right in some cases. I don't know. But I feel good! (Now, where did I put my James Brown animated gif? )

Worthy experiment . I'd try to stick with it for a minimun of 6 months....and it is important to be strict about it.

The case against gluten just keeps on building... starting to believe its not good for anyone... and you might want to consider dumping casein and soy as well. They also are associated with wide ranging neurological symptoms.

Good luck with your experiment!

There is also an increased association between autism, schizophrenia, bipolar .... and pyroluria... a "stress" related condition. Pyroluria is also associated with gluten/casein sensitivity, seizures, and more. That just came to mind when seeing these mentioned together..not sure there is any relevance. I have a page giving resources about pyroluria in The Gluten File.