Study could explain why Parkinson's drug improves, then diminishes quality of life (L-dopa l, a protein, and iron create cellular iron overload/oxidation)

Medical Xpress / ACS Chemical Neuroscience / University of California, Irvine ^ | Jan. 20, 2022 | Sammy Alhassen et al

[ConservativeMind]

A team of researchers has discovered a possible reason why L-dopa, the front-line drug for treating Parkinson's disease, loses efficacy and causes dyskinesia—involuntary, erratic muscle movements of the patient's face, arms, legs and torso—as treatment progresses.

"Paradoxically, the exact therapy that improved the quality of life for tens of thousands of Parkinson's patients is the one that contributes to the rapid decline in quality of life over time," said Amal Alachkar, Ph.D. "L-dopa has been shown to accelerate disease progression through neural mechanisms that are not very well understood."

L-dopa and other pharmacological treatments for Parkinson's are designed to replace the lost dopamine caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. Although dopamine can't cross the blood-brain barrier, which lets substances such as water and oxygen pass into the brain, L-dopa can, and it's used to treat the disease's motor symptoms. However, 99 percent of L-dopa is metabolized outside the brain, so it's administered in combination with an enzyme inhibitor to increase the amount of the dose that reaches the brain to 5 to 10 percent and to prevent side effects such as nausea and heart problems.

Findings demonstrate that L-dopa and the protein siderocalin combine in the presence of iron to create a complex that may cause a cellular iron overload, leading to an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants, as well as neuroinflammation in the brain, triggering dyskinesia, fluctuations in mobility and freezing episodes. As Parkinson's progresses, lower doses of L-dopa induce these negative side effects, while the dose required to alleviate disease symptoms increases, resulting in a narrow therapeutic window.

[ConservativeMind]

This helps describe why the current therapy speeds Parkinson’s.

Perhaps antioxidants that can get into the brain can mitigate some of the large cellular iron overdose/destruction. It would seem keeping a lower, yet healthy, iron level might help.

[ConservativeMind]

A few Parkinson’s therapy approaches are shown among these threads:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=Parkinson

[ConservativeMind]

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List

This potentially high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to implement for your benefit.

Please email or private message me if you want on or off of this list.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings

[P-Marlowe]

LONG TERM EFFECTS.

[Gay State Conservative]

A great film that speaks of this is a film called “Awakenings”.It's based on a true story about a young doctor who discovered a way to help a group of patients suffering from a horrible neurological disorder.

[Senator_Blutarski]

Bump for later reference

[Senator_Blutarski]

Bump for later reference