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Dear All,

My mother (PD, 89) takes Sinemet (regular) and, for a moderately sluggish
intestinal tract, Lactulose.

I recently learned that Lactulose is largely lactose, which is a sugar.

That it is largely sugar disturbs me, as I understand from various health
professionals that sugar generally can have a deleterious effect on the
immune-system, among other things. It also, various health professionals
say, can quickly make a person tired (beyond what may be an initial
boost).

Now I've seen some posts here in the PD Digest, in which the issue of
tiredness is popping up.

I would therefore like ask the following:

(1) Has the problem of tiredness, or weakness, that has bothered any
PDers, seemed (if you think back) to be linked in any way to the ingestion
of any form of SUGARS? (This would include table-sugar, syrups, sweet
fruits, Lactulose, etcetera)?

   Also, since carbohydrates are transformed, by enzymes in saliva
etcetera, into various forms of sugars, has anyone noticed whether this
tiredness or weakness may be correlated with the ingestion of
CARBOHYDRATES? (Note that many foods -- particularly starch-based, such
as pasta, or breads, for example -- are loaded with carbohydrates).

(2) Have any of PD's OTHER symptoms (tremors, dyskinesias, etc.), to your
knowledge, possibly been linked to the ingestion of SUGARS, CARBOHYDRATES,
or a sugar-containing medication such as LACTULOSE?

(3) If you HAVE found such correlations, what ALTERNATIVES have you tried
that may have gotten around these problems, and how successful were those
alternatives?

-- SJS