Hi Mary Ann
I've always had marginally low BP (even before PD), including fainting when
standing up quickly. Same for my dad, who had PD as well.
I've always wondered if the real cause of PD/Alzheimer e.a. is chronic
malnutrition of brain cells.
Wouldn't it just be right:
1 - low BP as one of the causal factors of PD
2 - our medication as a side effect further lowers BP....
Mary Ann Ryan wrote:
>
> Pat wrote:
> The first was a direct connection between Parkinson's and the
> > Spanish Flu of 1918, and the second was that the majority of people with
> > Parkinson's tend to have low blood pressure
>
> There's plenty of evidence that profound fevers, encephalitis, meningitis,
> and some viral processes *can* be the cause of Parkinson's disease. The
> 1918 flu was one of the worst pandemics the world has ever known - some of
> its victims eventually did developed PD, but certainly not all.
>
> As for low blood pressure being related to PD - that is true to an extent.
> Sinemet and the dopamine agonists have a tendency to lower BP. Folks with
> already low blood pressure soon discover that the meds prescribed to
> alleviate their Parkinson's Disease can lead to a realm of complications
> such as dizziness and fainting spells. My husband has extremely high blood
> pressure, so we use Sinemet as an adjunct to his regular BP meds. Recently
> when he was prescribed Tasmar in addition to Sinemet and Mirapex his blood
> pressure plummeted to such a low level that his doctor considered removing
> him from his hypertensive meds. Reason prevailed, however, and we removed
> the Tasmar instead.
> -----
> God bless
> Mary Ann (CG Jamie 60/40)
--
Frans van Duinen
(416) 652-8580
Master Programmer Group Inc.
Toronto, Ontario
