> > From: Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> . (I have yet to see a logical > explanation of their case.) PD is not as conventional theory maintains a lack of dopamine in the brain but a brain neurological firing pattern spasm . That means that the normal firing pattern of the neurons has changed and this change in the pattern can be caused by many things . Dopamine defficiency is by far the most common cause . Other causes are tumors, hydrocephalus,chemicals and disease . The nature of the brains neuron firng pattern is determined to large extent by the shape of the brains struicture . The brain is predoninantely in two halves . Thus the spasm is often confined to one half of the brain producing PD symptoms only on the opposite side of the body ( this is my condition ) . A good analogy of what I mean by spasm is to consider the pattern of flow of water in the ocean currents . The currents are to a large extent determined by the position of the continents . A spasm is the " EL Ninio" effect . This sort of spasm occurs often in the human body such as asthma . INTERFERING WITH THE SPASM One of the best ways of interfering with the spasm os to increase the neurtransmitter dopamine even in cases where the PD is not caused by a dopamine shortage . Dopamine dampens the spasm a bit like a shock absorber danpens a badly balanced car wheel . Just like with a car wheel at certain range of speeds this dampening effect actually makes things worse ( the wheel and damper are in sync ) so dopamine increase at certain concentrations makes things worse ( dyskinesia ). DOPAMINE LEVEL IN BRAIN AFTER TAKING DOPAMINE BOOSTING DRUG ( L-DOPA ) l l l ++++ l + Zone A +++ l ____+_________________+_________ l + Zone B + l _+____________________________+___________ l + Zone C + l+________________________________________________+__ Time =AC > ( I apologise for the diagram but could not do much better with my offline mailreader ) Zone C In this zone the boost of dopamine is least so the effects are minimal . All the PD symptoms are there . ( In my case I am dragging my left leg when I walk ) Zone A In this zone the boost of dopamine is maximum and the PD symtoms are lessened or gone I often feel a bit strange .( In my case I walk normaly without trying ) Zone B This is the danger zone where the dampening effect of the increase dopamin eis in sync with the PD spasm and makes the condition worse . ( IN my case my left leg becomes uncontrolable . The only way I can describe it to a person who has not experienced it . It is like trying to stand aand young child who is trying to attract your attention is pulling and pushing at your leg . ) BUT and this is a BIG BUT unlike driving a car with an unbalanced wheel that vibrates at only certain fixed speeds the range of zone B is not fixed . With the brain any strong pattern gets emphasised and expanded . Zone B is an extremely strong pattern and so the more it occurs, the larger its range . The expansion of zone B often completely destroys the advantage of taking dopamine boosting drugs . I nearly always experience dyskinesia 4 - 6 hours after taking my last L-dopa pill of the day . I have sometimes experienced it 3/4 hour after the first pill for a few minutes . I sometimes get it on and off during the day . I put this down to the dopamine level being about the zoneA/zoneB boundary . If one stops going into zone B by not taking dopamine boosting drugs then zone B range will shrink . Unfortunately this from what I read this is not very fast . It is therefore important to avoid dyskinesia not just for temporary discomfort . Brain Surgery ( Pallidotomy/Thalamotomy ) It was reading the report on palidotomy that made me realize PD was a brain neuron firing pattern spasm . After destroying a few brain cells the blood flow pattern in the brain completely changes . Not only is there a loss of tremor but often a restoration of muscular control and other PD symptoms disappear . The explanation of PD as a lack of dopamine does not even begin to explain pallidotomies success . Going back to the ocean current analogy,it is like going to a place in the ocean where the current normally runs very slowly but during the " El Ninio " it runs very fast and then if one was able, dump a large land mass at this spot . The only pattern likely to be set up by the oceans would be one where no water flowed at this spot . This would effectively stop the " El Ninio " effect . Pallidotomy has to be very precise so as to destroy as little of the brain as possible and at the same time stopping the spasm . It would seem to be especialy effective at stopping dyskinesia .This is the agravated spasm of zone B . peace Alastair ( [log in to unmask] )