gee, I didn't know milk thistle would help my liver produce dopamine.  I 
started taking it for constipation.  Do I need to take tyrosine with it?

Ray

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask]

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Schaaf Angus / Meadow Creek Ranch" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 8:40 AM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Question re Amantadine/  GSH importance

> Couple of thoughts.
> Have you tried to let your liver produce your dopamine needs by taking
> tyrosine and milk thistle?
> The natural production of GSH  by the body is a little more complicated 
> but
> following is article from my archives that helps explain.
>      WHY GSH
> Oxidative stress appears to play an important role in degeneration of
> dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) associated with
> Parkinson's disease (PD). The SN of early PD patients have dramatically
> decreased levels of the thiol tripeptide glutathione (GSH). GSH plays
> multiple roles in the nervous system both as an antioxidant and a redox
> modulator. We have generated dopaminergic PC12 cell lines in which levels 
> of
> GSH can be inducibly down-regulated via doxycycline induction of antisense
> messages against both the heavy and light subunits of
> gamma-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase, the rate-limiting enzyme in 
> glutathione
> synthesis. Down-regulation of glutamyl-cysteine synthetase results in
> reduction in mitochondrial GSH levels, increased oxidative stress, and
> decreased mitochondrial function. Interestingly, decreases in 
> mitochondrial
> activities in GSH-depleted PC12 cells appears to be because of a selective
> inhibition of complex I activity as a result of thiol oxidation. These
> results suggest that the early observed GSH losses in the SN may be 
> directly
> responsible for the noted decreases in complex I activity and the 
> subsequent
> mitochondrial dysfunction, which ultimately leads to dopaminergic cell 
> death
> associated with PD.
>
>   WHY GLUTAMINE
> Glutamine is an important mitochondrial substrate implicated in the
> protection of cells from oxidant injury. Human pulmonary epithelial-like
> (A549) cells were exposed to 95% O(2) for 4 days in the absence and 
> presence
> of glutamine. Cell proliferation in normoxia was dependent on glutamine, 
> and
> glutamine deprivation markedly accelerated cell death in hyperoxia.
> Glutamine significantly increased cellular ATP levels in normoxia and
> prevented the loss of ATP in hyperoxia seen in glutamine-deprived cells.
> Mitochondrial membrane potential as assessed by flow cytometry with
> chloromethyltetramethylrosamine was increased by glutamine in
> hyperoxia-exposed A549 cells, and a glutamine dose-dependent increase in
> mitochondrial membrane potential was detected. Glutamine-supplemented,
> hyperoxia-exposed cells had a HIGHER  O(2) consumption rate and GSH 
> content.
> Electron and fluorescence microscopy revealed that, in hyperoxia, 
> glutamine
> protected cellular structures, especially mitochondria, from damage. In
> hyperoxia, activity of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme
> alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase was partially protected by its indirect
> substrate, glutamine, indicating a mechanism of mitochondrial protection.
> THEREFORE:  I take L-Glutamine and DHEA to increase the level of GSH in 
> the
> body naturally to further thwart the symptoms and destruction of P.D. 
> along
> with my other vitamin/mineral protocol which exclude PD drugs. As a note. 
> I
> never tried the Amantadine. My doctors forced me early to look elsewhere 
> for
> help since they couldnt due to lack of knowledge or incentive. Not sure
> which but I'm alot healthier for switching to a no drug protocol.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ernesto Divo" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 12:24 PM
> Subject: Re: Question re Amantadine use
>
>
>> Hi John,
>>
>> I'm 56 and was diagnosed with PD in 2000, I've been taking Azilect and
>> Requip (Ropinirole) the nausea form the Requip is unbearable.  I have
>> introduced to my regimen for the past 5 months or so, 'MaxGXL', a
> supplement
>> developed here in the US, by a US scientist and sold by a US
>> company. It raises thet levels of GSH in your cells naturally. It took 
>> the
>> GXL about a week to work on my sleeping pattern, I was waking up 2-3 
>> times
>> during the night, now I sleep straight thru the night, and it took about
>> three weeks to work on my cognitive process but it was so subtle I barely
>> thought it was the GXL. I wasn't having problems looking for words to
> finish
>> a sentence, my memory is back, I don't lose things around the house, I
> have
>> more energy and I feel good and my wife is happier.  It is strange, when 
>> I
>> asked my doctor about it he said Gluta what?  it seems the medical
> community
>> is keeping the use of Glutathione (GSH) under wraps, they don't want
>> competition...  I order mine from www.maxgxl.com/133282  I suggest 
>> getting
>> as much info as possible of GSH, I went to www.youtube.com and searched
> for
>> 'The mother of all antioxidants', there is this doctor Mark Hyman who
>> explains in details about GSH; excellent video.
>>
>> Good luck to you.
>>
>> Ernesto,
>> Miami, FL
>>
>> On Sat, May 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM, john emrys <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>>
>> > Hey John
>> >
>> > I've been on Amantadine since being diagnosed in October of last year;
>> > dosage has remained constant and titrated from 100mg to 300mg per day,
> over
>> > an initial period of 3 weeks.
>> >
>> > I space the dosing about 5-ish hours apart; I've found if the final 
>> > dose
> of
>> > 100mg is taken later than 8PM, I have trouble sleeping through the
> night.
>> >
>> > It does give me an energy boost and some minor relief from muscle
>> > tightness, but does nothing to improve gait or reduce tremor. It's sort
> of
>> > just a little bit of "gas" for your "engine."
>> >
>> > On the other hand, I find it causes auditory hallucinations, 
>> > drowsiness,
>> > occasional vertigo, foggy thought processing and swelling around the
> knees.
>> >
>> > I find much better results on GSH and mucuna bean, which I started 
>> > about
> 6
>> > months ago (the mucuna has been a very recent thing, so it's been too
> early
>> > to tell – but so far, I'm definitely impressed). My neuro practically
> lit
>> > his own hair on fire when I told him, but he couldn't deny the results
> of
>> > the GSH.
>> >
>> > The goal is to be able to cut the amantadine by 35 - 50% within 6
> months.
>> > My view is the longer I stay away from starting the agonists, the
> better.
>> >
>> > Hope that helps.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Joh
>> >
>> >
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