Info about Parkinson and NADH by Dr Whittaker further down in article.(long)

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----- Original Message -----
From: Chip <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 03, 1999 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: CSDRWHITAKER received a request


Dear Mr. McCarthy:
Thanks for emailing us.  It's wonderful that you are taking control of your
health and pursuing a better quality of life!

Dr. Whitaker can't answer a specific medical question
without first examining a patient.

To help you safely and nutritionally
on the road to health, I have attached an article from
Dr. Whitaker's writings.  (To order additional back issues of Health &
Healing newsletter
call 800/539/8219)

If you wish to pursue medical treatment for your condition, you can contact
the Whitaker
Wellness Institute Medical Clinic in Newport Beach, California for cutting
edge theerapies.  Call
800/488-1500.

Dr. Whitaker's Guide to Improved Brain Function: How to Enhance Your Memory
and Mental Edge -- 1998
Part III: Specific Therapies for Specific Conditions
Chapter 9 -- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Conditions
Mary had an illustrious career as a high-level secretary with the Department
of Defense, spoke three languages, and lived in Europe for several years
while on assignment. When she was 65, she left the DOD and moved to a
retirement community in Arizona where she played golf three times a week and
was involved in church activities. Although Mary had had high blood pressure
for many years, she had no real health challenges until her early 70s, when
she suffered a series of small strokes. She recovered without any overt
deficits, but her family was concerned.

When they called Mary, who had never married and lived alone, she seemed
"spacy." This bright, articulate woman repeated herself, searched for words,
and was often unable to recall a conversation held just the day before. This
went on for months until the family got a call from the emergency room of
the local hospital saying that Mary had superficial burns from a minor
kitchen fire started when she left a burner on.

It was clear than Mary could no longer live on her own, and her niece,
Darlene, offered her a room in her house. For the next five years, Mary
lived with her niece's family in California. In the early months she was an
engaging companion, generally lucid with memory lapses that were more
humorous than anything else. By the third year, the lapses outweighed the
lucid moments, and Mary could not be left alone. Still, even though it was
becoming a burden and strain on the family, Darlene was reluctant to
relinquish the care of her beloved aunt. After five years, however, Darlene
realized that they could no longer handle Mary. Even when attended, Mary
would manage to get out and wander off, causing hours of anguished worry
until she was found. She was occasionally verbally abusive to Darlene and
her two sons. Worst of all, she was increasingly incontinent and had to
almost be forced to eat.

Mary was placed in a nursing home, where she lingered for two more years
before she died, becoming increasingly less aware and more passive. Not
surprisingly, an autopsy revealed that she had Alzheimer's disease.

Health and disease, as I emphasized in the previous section, involve your
whole body and being. Good diet, exercise, and nutritional supplementation
promote health in all spheres, while disease often affects more than a
single organ. Although Alzheimer's is considered an illness of the brain, as
Mary's story illustrates, it ravages the whole person--body, mind, and soul.

In this chapter I'll give you an overview of some of the most common medical
conditions that affect the brain: degenerative diseases and injuries.


Degenerative Diseases of the Brain
The quintessential degenerative disease of the brain is Alzheimer's disease.


Alzheimer's Disease
As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, the disease Americans fear most is
Alzheimer's. I'll be the first to admit that Alzheimer's disease is scary,
but except in the "oldest of the old," those 85 and over, it's much less
common than you might think. While it's true that over 4 million Americans
are afflicted with the disease, it is rare in people under 50 and uncommon
in people under 65. However, after the age of 65, the likelihood of
developing Alzheimer's doubles every five years, to almost 50% at age 85.

This well-known cause of dementia was first described in 1907 by a German
neurologist, Alois Alzheimer, who reported on a 51-year-old woman who died
of progressive dementia. Alzheimer's is indeed a progressive disease,
developing over 10 to 20 years, although it is generally not recognized in
its very early stages.

Alzheimer's disease is marked by a loss of neurons, dendrites, and synapses
and significant atrophy of the brain. There is a critical decrease in the
neurotransmitter acetylcholine, caused by degradation of the hippocampus and
reduced activity of choline acetyl transferase, the enzyme needed to produce
acetylcholine.

  The brain on top shows
Alzheimer's disease.


The brain on the bottom
is normal.



However, the definitive markers of Alzheimer's disease, which can only be
determined on brain autopsy after the death of the patient, are
neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques. Neurofibrillary tangles are
paired, knotty filaments located inside neurons that eventually destroy the
cells. Neuritic plaques, sometimes called senile plaques, consist of a core
of a protein called beta amyloid surrounded by dead and dying cellular
debris. The areas of the brain most rapidly affected are the hippocampus and
the amygdala, areas that, as you recall, are important in memory processing.

Alzheimer's disease begins with short-term memory loss, but as the disease
progresses, the neocortex erodes. Patients eventually become impulsive,
agitated, and irrational, requiring full-time care. The end stages of
Alzheimer's involve degeneration of the cerebellum, so basic motor skills,
continence, and even self-feeding are lost. This stage can last as long as
seven years, and the emotional and financial tolls it takes on families are
indescribable.

The strongest most definitive risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age. As
noted above, incidence of the disease increases after age 65, and almost
half of those 85 and older have it. Each and every one of the processes of
aging I discussed in Chapter 3--oxidation, glycosylation, inflammation, and
methylation defects--are involved in Alzheimer's disease. The female gender,
lack of education, head trauma, and myocardial infarction, or heart attack,
are also associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Let's take a closer look at the genetic link. We know that a family history
of Alzheimer's increases your likelihood of developing the disease, but only
in the last three or four years have we understood why. The culprit has been
identified as a specific gene pair on chromosome 19 known as APOE4, and
carriers have a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by age of 80.

According to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis and the University of Madrid, Spain, in people who carry this
genotype, the nucleus of senile plaque that junks up the brains of
Alzheimer's patients is deposited more easily and earlier. However, only 2
to 3 percent of the population has this particular genotype, and it accounts
for only a small fraction of those afflicted with the disease.

The most heartening news about genetics and disease is that tremendous
advances are being made in this branch of medicine. Someday, perhaps in the
not-so-distant future, we will be able not only to map out genes and
identify the ones that put us at risk for various diseases, but to actually
manipulate those genes and eliminate risks factors.

For now, I recommend that patients with Alzheimer's disease immediately
begin a comprehensive program of nutritional supplementation, incorporating
as many of the nutritional, supplemental, hormonal, and nootropic agents as
possible, along with a well-designed, consistent program of physical and
mental exercise.


Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease was first described in the medical literature in 1817 by
James Parkinson in a paper entitled, "Essay on the Shaking Palsy." Now
diagnosed in 40,000 patients per year, Parkinson's disease is characterized
by rhythmic trembling and, in its later stages, stiff, jerky movements,
difficulty with balance, appetite loss, and voice impairment.

Parkinson's is caused by a decrease in brain levels of the neurotransmitter
dopamine, which stimulates the brain and helps control movement. Neurons in
an area of the brain called the substantia nigra are destroyed, and with
them the production of dopamine. Parkinson's is sometimes brought on by head
trauma or drug toxicity, and it is believed that environmental toxins may
contribute to its onset.

Treatment of this disease is geared toward raising dopamine levels. One way
to do this is to give the patient l-dopa, which is converted in the brain to
dopamine. Another, more effective treatment, is the smart drug deprenyl,
which we discussed in Chapter 6. As I explained, deprenyl (prescription name
Eldepryl) inhibits monamine oxidase-B, the enzyme that breaks down dopamine
in the brain, thus leaving more dopamine available to perform its necessary
functions.

Another effective treatment for Parkinson's disease is nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NADH), a coenzyme that facilitates the conversion of the amino
acid tyrosine to dopamine. NADH is a natural substance that facilitates
energy production and is produced in all of your cells . It is especially
active in the brain and central nervous system. Researchers at the
University of Graz, Austria, administered NADH to 885 patients with
Parkinson's disease, half orally and half intravenously. In both the oral
and IV groups, 80 percent experienced clinical improvement, rated as very
good in 19.3 percent and moderate in 58.8 percent. The recommended dose of
NADH is 5 mg per day. If the person is already taking an l-dopa drug,
consult a physician, as all these therapies boost dopamine production.

Other natural therapies for Parkinson's disease include the supplements
recommended earlier in Chapter 4. Of particular help are antioxidants,
especially vitamin E (800 to 2,000 i.u. per day) and vitamin C (2,500 mg per
day), and Ginkgo biloba (60 mg two to three times daily).


Injuries to the Brain
Head trauma, stroke, and brain tumors could all be classified as injuries to
the brain. Although I've discussed the first two in Chapter 3, I want to
return to stroke, as it is such a significant contributor to memory loss and
dementia.


Stroke
Stroke is a leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death
in the U.S. As I mentioned in Chapter 4, a stroke, also called a
cerebrovascular accident or infarct, deprives an area of the brain of oxygen
when an artery is blocked or ruptured. This leads to brain cell death and
brain damage. Common warning signs of stroke are sudden vision impairment,
dizziness, weakness on one side, confusion, numbness, paralysis, loss of
bowel or bladder control, severe headache, and loss of consciousness.

Identifying and treating a stroke at once is vitally important, as most
brain damage occurs in the first few hours following the stroke. The most
common deficits resulting from a stroke are speech and coordination
problems. Depending on the degree of damage, these are either reversible or
permanent.

The best way to approach stroke is to take measures to avoid having one.
High blood pressure significantly increases the likelihood of stroke, and
other risk factors include atrial fibrillation, diabetes, age, prior stroke,
smoking, and use of oral contraceptives. The diet, supplementation, and
exercise recommendations in this report offer protection against stroke. For
more information on stroke, you might want to refer to my special report on
hypertension (see the Resource section).


Brain Tumor
Brain tumors, whether they are benign or malignant, invade the brain and
impinge on brain tissue, impeding its function. Malignant brain tumors are,
as a rule, especially fast-growing and virulent, and the patient's prognosis
is usually grave. As in all cancers, chemotherapy and radiation are the
primary treatments, but they are largely ineffective in brain cancer, and
the damage the therapies themselves do to the brain makes the treatment
sometimes worse than the disease.

It is not my intent to offer a discourse on brain cancer, but because the
traditional therapies for brain malignancies are so dismal, I want to make
you aware of one "alternative" therapy. Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D., of
Houston, Texas, has discovered what I consider to be the biggest
breakthrough in cancer treatment of this century, antineoplastons.
Antineoplastons are small, naturally occurring, nontoxic particles that
enter cells and alter their genetic programming, turning off oncogenes that
cause cancer cells to proliferate, and activating tumor suppressor genes
that stop cancer from growing. Dr. Burzynski has had a growing number of
documented clinical successes with this therapy, and his most consistent
results have been with brain malignancies.

Because of unreasonable harassment by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), Dr. Burzynski is limited to administering antineoplastons in his
Houston clinic, and the FDA must approve every patient who starts on his
protocol. However, because they recognize the deadliness of this type of
cancer, and the dearth of conventional treatment, they approve most requests
for treatment of brain malignancy. For more information on Dr. Burzynski's
clinic, see the Resource section.


Common Clinical Features of Alzheimer's Disease by Stage

 Early Intermediate Late
Cognitive
Memory  Poor recall of new information Remote memories affected  Untestable
Language  Mild loss of fluency Difficulty finding words
Poor comprehension
Impaired repetition Almost no language
Visual-spatial Misplacing objects
Difficulty driving Getting lost
Difficulty copying figures Untestable
Behavioral

 Delusions
Depression
Insomnia Delusions
Depression
Agitation
Insomnia Agitation
Wandering
Incontinence
Rigidity

Recommendations

1. If you or a loved-one is at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or may
be showing symptoms, and you have ruled out other causes, consider
implementing as many of the recommendations as possible for improving brain
function described in Part II.
2. For people suffering from Parkinson's disease, try the prescription drug,
deprenyl, discussed in Chapter 7. You might also consider NADH. The
recommended dose is 5 mg per day. If you are already on an l-dopa drug,
consult a physician as these therapies boost dopamine production.

3. The supplements described in Chapter 4 are effective, natural therapies
for Parkinson's symptoms, especially the antioxidants vitamin E (800 to
2,000 i.u. per day) and vitamin C (2,500 mg per day), and Ginkgo biloba (60
mg two to three times daily).

4. The best way to approach a stroke is through prevention, especially in
controlling risk factors such as hypertension. See the Resource section for
information on this subject.

5. Don't give up hope when faced with a diagnosis of a brain tumor. Learn as
much as you can and consider alternatives such as the antineoplaston
treatment developed by Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D. You can write to him at his
clinic, 12000 Richmond Ave., Houston, TX 77082, 281/597-0111.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dr. Whitaker's Guide to Improved Brain Function: How To Enhance Your Memory
and Mental Edge

Introduction
Part I:Understanding Your Brain, Memory and Cognitive Function


Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3
Part II: Dr. Whitaker's Program for Improved Brain Function

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8
Part III: Specific Therapies for Specific Conditions

Chapter 9
Part IV: Your Program to Improve Your Memory and Mental Edge

Chapter 10
Part V: Glossary, References and Resources
Glossary
References
Resources
About the Author
Additional Information and Ordering
Whitaker Wellness Institute Medical Clinic, Inc.



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© Copyright 1998, Phillips Publishing, Inc. Photocopying, reproduction, or
quotation strictly prohibited without written permission of the publisher.
Health & Healing cannot offer medical services; we encourage our readers to
seek advice from competent medical professionals for their personal health
needs. Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing (ISSN 1057-9273) is published
monthly by Phillips Publishing, Inc., 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD
20854-3394, telephone 800/539-8219.

I hope you find this article helpful.  Thanks again for your email,

Shawn
----- Original Message -----
From: dr whitaker cs <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 3:40 PM
Subject: Fw: CSDRWHITAKER received a request


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: ReplyNet <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 6:21 PM
> Subject: CSDRWHITAKER received a request
>
>
> > A message was received in your account.
> >
> > Account........: CSDRWHITAKER
> > Date...........: 12/01/1999
> > Time...........: 18:21:56 (US Eastern Time)
> > Message from...: [log in to unmask]
> > Message subject: Parkinson
> >
> > This message has a "Reply-To" tag in the header so you should
> > be able to reply directly to the person just by hitting reply.
> >
> > ============
> > MESSAGE BODY
> > ============
> >
> >
> > Dr. Whitaker, sometime in the past year you wrote in your newsletters
> about
> > Parkinson benefits with NADH.  Is there any new information on this
> subject?
> > Does your clinic have any case histories of Parkinson and possible
> results?
> > I like your natural approach and would like to pursue it.  I have
recently
> > started on Sinemet. Any response would be appreciated.  Thank you
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
>