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Gary J. Cornwell wrote:
>
> PHENOMENA: PHACTS or PHALLACIES
> <P>
> (This is a continuation of past posts.
> These are my thoughts and I'm just another person.)
>
> I wanted to list the 'phenomena' associated with PD
> and discuss them according to what I believe is the
> cause  of my PD - airborne allergens.
> If you can think of any other PD 'phenomena' please let me know.
>
> THE THEORY:  (This is a repeat; I'm using it as an introduction
> so everyone will know how I'm thinking.)
>
> The commonly accepted theory about PD goes like this I believe:
> Eighty to one hundred % of PDer's brain cells that produce dopamine are dead
> which results in loss of dopamine that is shown on scans and  the PD symptoms
> the patient had while living and loss of substantia nigra found in PD patients at autopsy.
> Surrounding this theory are many 'phenomena'. These 'phenomena'are actually known
> FACTS. They are categorized as 'phenomena' because although they are FACTS
> they do not FIT with the commonly accepted theory about PD, but rather seem
> to REFUTE, CONFLICT WITH, and CONTRADICT it.  So since we hold this theory
> to be correct, they are classified as PHENOMENA and PARADOXES.
> They just don't fit, or rather we SHOULD SAY I think that the THEORY does
> NOT fit with the FACTS. It could loosely be like saying that if the shoe does
> not fit, the FOOT is the wrong size. There are a number of these ill-fitting FACTS.
> Here's one to start with and some my cogitations about it for whatever it
> may be worth:
>
> PHENOMENON #1: On/Off Phenomenon & Beginning of Dose/End of Dose/Peak Dose
> Dyskinesias:
>
> How could we explain the sequence of events in
> each 'attack' of Parkinsonian symptoms; or the 'ebb & flow' of symptoms
> as we cycle from 'on' to 'off'and back in each 'attack'.  Exposure to
> allergens = histamine = muscle spasm = ischemia or hypoperfusion =
> more histamine = more muscle spasm = more ischemia = etc.etc until
> we get enough dopamine (L-dopa) or adrenalin to reverse the cycle.
> The severity of our symptoms during each attack depends on (1) Degree
> of sensitivity (2) Amount and duration of exposure to allergens
> (3) How good our immediate environment is allergywise or the concentration of
> allergens in the present surroundings.  (4) How soon we can get the
> 'attack' reversed. (5) Contributing factors - stress, cold, emotion, exercise,etc
> (6) Food considerations. (7) And of course our medication.  I believe this
> is why our medication schedule must be strictly adhered to.  If we let
> the cycle go too far our symptoms can get out of hand. As I have shown
> the cycle can also be reversed with neck massage and getting in a good
> enough place allergywise for a long enough period of time.(Oxygen can
> reverse the cycle because you are not breathing allergens while on
> oxygen).  However I do think that L-dopa can create a need for itself
> and limit our ability to reverse the cycle as much as we could without
> medication.
> <P>
> (Please note: I am going to use L-dopa, dopamine, noradrenalin, norepinephrine
> adrenalin and epinephrine almost interchangably.  This is probably
> technically wrong but I do think they are closely related substances.)
> <P>
> How could L-dopa possibly be 'creating a need for itself'??
> Not a psychological need, but maybe because of the body's  'feedback
> mechanism'. (See previous post containing quotes from J. Hepler of Allergy list)
> Possibly similar to supply & demand, as with breastfeeding an
> infant, when the demand decreases, so does the milk supply, until when fully weaned the supply ceases.  This is also the case with cortisol
> and adrenalin (epinephrine) & asthma/allergies.  When there is a lot
> of cortisol (or Prednisone) in the circulating blood, the hypothalamus
> gland signals the adrenals via feedback to decrease production, and
> also overstimulation could mean a decrease in the number of receptors.  Could
> this also apply to dopamine (whose precursor is noradrenalin)?
> <p>
> HOWZAT??? WELL, maybe something like this:
> Since I believe my neck muscle spasm is central to my PD/MSA
> and is one cause of the reduced blood supply (hypoperfusion) of my
> brain, (because my symptoms went away by simply massaging my neck muscles
> while on no medication).  Could this mean that since there is less BLOOD
> getting through the bottleneck (or rather MY neck ), that if there is
> less BLOOD then it must follow that there would also be less noradrenalin as well??
> Could this possibly be the cause of our PD tremor??  The hypothalamus
> would detect less noradrenalin since the whole volume of blood is less
> and would signal the adrenal glands to produce MORE, which would be
> TOO MUCH and therefore would produce the tremor, but not enough to 'break
> through' the 'roadblock in the neck. When it reaches the point of there being
> enough noradrenalin & L-dopa to "break through" the neck muscle spasm
> (since dopamine is used by surgeons to 'perk up' the circulatory system
> and also epinephrine is an antagonist to histamine)
> then there would be a 'flood' of dopamine at beginning of dose - cause
> of beginning dose dyskinesias? Then the brain would adjust and we have
> "on" time. There could also be peak dose dyskinesia when the medication is
> most effective.  End of dose dyskinesia could be that as the medication's
> effect is waning the reverse would happen.  As the muscle spasm begins to
> tighten down again with the medication's effects beginning to wane then
> again there would be less blood, and thus less noradrenalin getting through,
> so the hypothalamus is again faked out and is detecting not enough noradrenalin
> present in the circulating blood, so signals the adrenals to produce more
> again causing dyskinesias , but eventually there is not enough to withstand
> the muscle spasm which again clamps down on the blood vessels and cuts down the amount of noradrenalin and
> L-dopa and noradrenalin getting through the neck and also the resulting
> ischemia causes the concentration of histamine in the straitum
> to rise and kicks off another chain reaction and we return to an "off" time????
> The overstimulation because of continuously taking ever increasing amounts
> of L-dopa also might cause a reduction in the number of dopamine receptors
> and result in decreased production of dopamine and perhaps even shrinkage of
> the body's own producer of dopamine, the substantia nigra.
> Another contributing factor is that histamine is a very powerful vasodilator
> and this alone can cause drastic circulatory problems even shock and
> death from circulatory effects of histamine.  So all of these factors
> combined would produce MAYHEM in the body/brain/blood chemistry.
>
> Thanks,
> Janet ([log in to unmask])
>