New Role for Folic Acid in Parkinson's
 

(further evidence for use of folic acid--CS mentioned in an earlier post that he uses folic acid supplementation. husband uses 800 mcg/day...)
New Role for Folic Acid in Parkinson's
New research indicates the vitamin folic acid may protect against Parkinson's disease.

Experiments conducted with mice—who closely resemble humans genetically—offer "the first direct evidence that folic acid may have a key role in protecting adult nerve cells against age-related disease," says Mark Mattson, chief of the neurosciences laboratory of the National Institute on Aging. The study findings were reported in the January Journal of Neurochemistry.

Mice deprived of folic acid had fewer dopamine-producing cells, and more damaged cells, than mice given folic acid. Low levels of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that affects movement, are symptomatic of Parkinson's.

The National Academy of Sciences recommends 400 micrograms daily of folic acid, which is found in many B-complex vitamins.

Folic acid
 

Good one Olsen, I have had Folic acid in my list of supplements for years now. I know Jaye uses it too. It is one of those supplements that doesn't seem to do much, (you can stop it with no obvious difference). However, this reinforces my belief that it is an essential long term item in our portfolio.
Ron

Anything..
 

That is called a "vitamin" in this Folic acid (vitamin Bc, Vitamin M), Made in gobs by yeast fermentation. I just find out what would be considered "covered" by that vit per dayby 1, which is why you have to look long and dozingly into a 10 to the -2 or 10 to the 6th power dosages you are getting, from where, and don't spend your money on "useless perceived benefit supplement". Remember, it's your body (and it can pretty well tell your mind that what you've been consuming is or is not a "placebo")and your money, so if you just want the wildestly expensive s-- t in town then let others do the 'dosing for you"
There are a lot of benefits to taking supplements; benefits which we know that we know are good for us, should be taken in specified or unspecified anounts and times. Then there are suplements and vitamins that we know that we don't know are good for us, theses should not be taken at all or in unspecified amounts and times, then finally there are vitamins and supplements which we we don't know that are not good for us or not, so should be taken in moderation:D :D :D ,Rumsy you ol' blod clot you:D Supplementology is an art and must be careful to be the best kind of scientists, if there's bad prees (or good); take it all with a grain of salt, combine with a cup to a barrel of net-research, another pinch salt from your heart, an maybe you've got something, maybe you don't.cs

Folic acid is essential for the formation of L-dopa.

L-dopa is made in the dopaminergic neurons via the following means :

L-tyrosine + THFA + O2 + Fe2+ → L-dopa + DHFA + H2O + Fe2+

In order to make L-dopa and what appears on the right hand side of the arrow :

L-dopa + DHFA + H2O + Fe2+

You need to have what appears on the left hand side of the arrow, which includes THFA :

L-tyrosine + THFA + O2 + Fe2+

THFA, which is essential for the formation of L-dopa is made from folic acid :

Folic acid > DHFA > THFA

The formation of L-dopa was proven to go up and down according to how much THFA was present, and the formation of THFA goes up or down (up to a limit) according to how much foilic acid somebody has.

So by taking folic acid, somebody can help to increase their own L-dopa levels.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_18.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_70v.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_101.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_14.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_68.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_18.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_70v.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_101.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_14.gifhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_2_68.gif

I'm not going to try to guess who Santa is ...
 

...:D


1: Ann Neurol. 2004 Aug;56(2):221-7.

Folic acid supplementation enhances repair of the adult central nervous system.

Iskandar BJ, Nelson A, Resnick D, Pate Skene JH, Gao P, Johnson C, Cook TD,
Hariharan N.

Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53792,
USA. iskandar@neurosurg.wisc.edu

Folic acid supplementation has proved to be extremely effective in reducing the
occurrence of neural tube defects (NTDs) and other congenital abnormalities in
humans, suggesting that folic acid can modulate key mechanisms for growth and
differentiation in the central nervous system (CNS). To prevent NTDs, however,
supplemental folate must be provided early in gestation. This suggests that the
ability of folic acid to activate growth and differentiation mechanisms may be
confined to the early embryonic period. Here, we show that folic acid can
enhance growth and repair mechanisms even in the adult CNS. Using lesion models
of CNS injury, we found that intraperitoneal treatment of adult rats with folic
acid significantly improves the regrowth of sensory spinal axons into a grafted
segment of peripheral nerve in vivo. Regrowth of retinal ganglion cell (RGC)
axons into a similar graft also was enhanced, although to a smaller extent than
spinal axons. Furthermore, folic acid supplementation enhances neurological
recovery from a spinal cord contusion injury, showing its potential clinical
impact. The results show that the effects of folic acid supplementation on CNS
growth processes are not restricted to the embryonic period, but can also be
effective for enhancing growth, repair, and recovery in the injured adult CNS.
Copyright 2004 American Neurological Association

PMID: 15293274 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

another form of folic acid...
 

Currently there has been the discovery that some people do not methylate
folic acid to its active form well in vivo. The last I saw there are 25 separate
genetic errors found so far with this.

There is another form now, to bypass this problem..
And I suggest you all consider it.

Methylfolate is available now, at inexpensive prices.
And example is MetaFolin by Source Naturals.

You can read more here:
http://www.metafolin.com/pdfs/metafolin2004_merck.pdf

Methylfolate is now included in some Rx versions of vitamins. Cerefolin and
Metanx are examples.

However you can buy it OTC in 800mcg (lower) doses. It is not expensive.