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(From: Janet, who is not a professional, as everyone knows, and whose writing is therefore not professional either, as everyone can tell. Also there is an ongoing debate about how much of my brain has predeceased me - hmmm - maybe it left me a will...also I wonder, should I have a semi-funeral when it reaches a certain percentage??? According to my older brother I've been brain dead since birth anyway, at least he always tried to convince me that I was ....so maybe it's a mute point anyway.. -To all those who have been following this thread and have realized it is not a yarn and anyone else who is interested. You probably will have to have read my previous posts to get what I'm talking about. See archives. Hope it's not TOO obtuse. I occupy a teensy corner of the list and regularly post reasons why I think PD/MSA is actually an autoimmune disorder. To continue: (1) Just a very brief glimpse at neurological diseases as a whole shows that it is not very far-fetched at all to suspect that PD is of autoimmune origin. There are quite a few already known or thought very likely to be autoimmune - multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, autism, etc. Also it is very interesting, almost eerie, to participate in the Parkinson list, the Shy-Drager list and the Allergy list simultaneously and in random order, and see the number of topics, symptoms, complaints, that are common ground for them. Many times I have to check the address to be sure which list a post is from. Here are some examples, used by permission- (1) Hypothalamus, adrenalin, stress, decreased absorption of iron and calcium, glycemia, tyrosine, central nervous system, etc. ".... The body has a feedback mechanism that is determined by the amount > of cortisol (or a similar manmade drug such as prednisone) in the blood. By > this, the hypothalamus/pituitary glands determine whether the adrenals need > to secrete more cortisol. When there is plenty in the blood from the > pharmaceutical version, the body figures it does not need to produce more so > the adrenals slow, then shut down. This is why it is very dangerous to take > prednisone for long periods of time and why you must slowly reduce the > dosage (taper off), in order to get your own adrenals cranking again. > > The body's own system of production and delivery of cortisol (and > epinephrine) is critical to our health and should be treated with great > respect. > > The body has a feedback mechanism that is determined by the amount > of cortisol (or a similar manmade drug such as prednisone) in the blood. By > this, the hypothalamus/pituitary glands determine whether the adrenals need > to secrete more cortisol. When there is plenty in the blood from the > pharmaceutical version, the body figures it does not need to produce more so > the adrenals slow, then shut down. This is why it is very dangerous to take > prednisone for long periods of time and why you must slowly reduce the > dosage (taper off), in order to get your own adrenals cranking again. > > The body's own system of production and delivery of cortisol (and > epinephrine) is critical to our health and should be treated with great > respect. > John Hepler Not all that ails allergic people is allergy. > Here's two examples we can look at, side by side--- stress and a > sugar binge. > Stress is generally thought to play a role in asthma and posssibly worsen > (increase) a persons allergic reactivity. How? In reaction to stress, the > human body releases stress hormones-- ACTH which stimilates the adrenals to > release cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline) -- originally triggered by > signals from the Nervous System (i.e., the stress). > > "The overall mechanism regulating glycemia... is in fact very > complex, since in addition to insulin and glucagon,.... hormones with > opposing effects, other hormones also intervene, such as cortisol, > epinephrine and growth hormone, all of which belong to the group of hormones > under control of the central nervous system." (from *Hormones*, Baulieu & > Kelly, eds; Chapman and hall, 1990; p 36) What this means is that generally > on diets high in sugar and simple starches, the body also secretes adrenal > hormones to deal with it. > > There are several effects of having cortisol and epinephrine > coursing thru your blood. One is that you feel hopped up, ready for action. > Your body is on alert or goes into action. If your body does not repond in > action > A second is that it suppresses Inflammation, one of the essential, defining features of allergic reaction. Epinephrine actually calms mast > cells at sites on the cells called "beta adrenergic receptors". This is > nature's way of contolling allergic reactions and histamine release. > Cortisol controls inflammation (among many other effects) by suppressing the > production of hormonelike subtances called eicosanoids (leukotrienes, > prostaglandins, PAF, thromboxanes), many of which are strongly implicated in > allergic reactions and general inflammatory response. > > Sounds good but we all know what it feels like. There are drawbacks, > especially from repeated or excessive adrenal stimulation: > Repeated stimulation makes for decreased sensitivity-- this is > documented by the facts of generally decreasing (human) absorption rates of > calcium and iron as intake decreases. Similarly, the greater the stimulation > of beta adrenergic receptors by, for example, inhaled beta-agonists such as > Ventolin, Albuterol, etc; the more the actual number of the beta adrenergic > receptors tends to decrease. This is why excessive use of these can have > disastrous results. > Cortisol tends to disrupts the critical regulating system for many > physiologiacl functions, the working of the eicosanoids (agents of the > autocrine-paracrine system). Real life results of long term use of > Prednisone are well known and unpleasant. > Possibly worse, the ready availability of glucocorticoids (manmade > prednisone acts in a very similar manner to the hormone cotisol) in the > blood signals the adrenals, via feedback, to stop producing its own adrenal > homones. If this goes on long enough, the adrenals actually shrink. > > As far as I can tell, medical authorities believe that the body > never runs out of raw materials with which to make its own cortisol (B > vitamins, among others) and epinephrine (tyrosine, vitamin C, etc). Even > accepting this dubious premise-- we still have serious problems from too > much stress and too much sugar, which acts as a stressor. When it is > continual, we are liable to have trouble, including worse allergy symptoms. > John Hepler > > PS "The secretion of ACTH (and thus of glucocorticosteroids), growth > hormone and digestive hormones is dependent on the type and rhythm of food > intake." > (Hormones, p35) > Savor this one, another quote from this mainstream 700 page text. > (2) The connection of the next quote is hydrocephalus which is a known cause of Parkinsonian symptoms. It is very interesting that asthma meds alleviated her hydrocephalus symptoms. BTW hydrocephalus in elderly patients is a fairly common disorder I believe. "....The reaction of your doc is, unfortunately, not too uncommon. Ten years > ago, I was having problems with balancing, feeling overstimulated from the > environment, etc. I, too, was told it was anxiety attacks and was put on > Xanax, Prozac, and a number of other nasty drugs. Four years ago, when I > became totally disabled as a result of these and other symptoms, and a doc > bothered to do a CAT scan, it turns out that I have hydrocephalus > (basically a blockage of spinal fluid on my brain that presses down on my > brain with activity). Now, the docs who I worked with 10 years ago are > saying, yes, that was the problem, and they would have treated me > differently if they had only known! > > Now, since I have also had a nasty flare up of asthma symptoms and have > begun using inhalers for it, my hydrocephalus symptoms have seemed to > clear up! Curious . . . > > Just goes to show that docs aren't perfect, and we aren't crazy . . . > > Lorry (3) Also, since we're on a roll finding possible links to the commonly suspected causes of PD (20th century chemicals, rural, animals, hereditary, age related, environmental,etc ) and allergies , a viral connection could be that severe viruses are said to be able to "turn on" many immune type diseases lying dormant like lupus, diabetes , asthma/allergy. This would provide a possible reason why Amantadine is effective against PD I would think. Hope this does not sound like a 'confused noise' (Eeyore) to anyone. Thanks, Janet