Parkinson’s Disease: A New Natural Alternative Treatment and Frequently Asked Questions
Patients Could Benefit From A New Treatment For Parkinson’s Disease.
1. How is Parkinson’s Disease treated by mainstream medicine?
Although there is currently no cure for Parkinson’s, there are treatment options available.
Conventional medicine offers medications and implantable devices to manage its symptoms. Levodopa is the most widely prescribed Parkinson’s medication and is considered the gold standard in Parkinson’s Disease treatment; however people often take several other medications to manage the disease.
Implantable devices, such as deep brain stimulation, may help alleviate a person’s Parkinson’s symptoms if and when they stop responding favorably to medication. However, this is only effective for a small group of people with Parkinson’s and is only recommended if an individual meets specific criteria.
2. Are there safe, natural alternative treatments available for Parkinson’s Disease?
The practitioners at Life Medical offer a natural treatment option for Parkinson’s Disease
Our integrative medical practice offers a natural treatment for Parkinson’s Disease called Neuro-Research Protocol Supplements.
We use the amino acid L-Dopa (AKA Levodopa), as the main ingredient, just as it is done in conventional medicine. However, L-Dopa causes nausea that needs to be mitigated. The conventional approach is to add Carbidopa for nausea prevention. Unfortunately, this drug depletes the body of vitamin B-6 causing numerous metabolic problems and increasing progression of Parkinson’s disease. We use a different method for nausea mitigation. 5HTP, another amino acid, accomplishes the same job without vitamin B6 depletion; therefore we alleviate the problems and side effects associated with Carbidopa.
Because B-6 plays an active role in the making of dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that is already in short supply in Parkinson’s patients, it is very important for patients to have a good level of this important vitamin and not have it depleted. Neuro Research Protocol also helps depression, which is a major issue for Parkinson’s patients.
3. Why can the traditional drugs prescribed for Parkinson’s disease patients be problematic?
Since 1999 the only prescription form of L-dopa available is a combination of L-dopa with carbidopa. The side effects that carbidopa causes can be very detrimental to Parkinson’s patient.
There is another form of L-dopa available which is nutrient-sourced L-dopa without carbidopa, and therefore it does not have the B-6 side effects associated with carbidopa. Because of this, Neuro Research strongly believes that L-dopa without carbidopa is a much better way to treat Parkinson’s patients.
Call us to make an appointment at 952-933-8900. Or visit our website www.lifemedical.us
4. What side effects does Carbidopa cause?
Carbidopa is of no real medical value in the management of Parkinson’s symptoms. It was originally combined with L-dopa to help control the L-dopa side effects of nausea. However, it has some very unwelcome side effects. Carbidopa binds irreversibly to vitamin B6 and vitamin B6 enzymes. “Irreversible” in this case is detrimental because the binding process permanently removes B6 and can create a B6 deficiency in the patient. A B6 deficiency decreases dopamine synthesis which in turn makes Parkinson’s symptoms worse.
The effect of this L-dopa/Carbidopa combination for the Parkinson’s patients can create Carbidopa-induced B-6 depletion. These symptoms are commonly confused with progression of Parkinson’s disease symptoms; however they are reversible and typically not addressed by mainstream physicians.
5. What is Carbidopa-induced B-6 depletion?
A recent study by Neuro Research suggests that symptoms of Carbidopa-induced B6 deficiency are identical to Parkinson’s disease symptoms. This conclusion is based on addressing the 29 nutritional deficiencies that are caused by Parkinson’s disease and/or treatments currently used in medicine. These are nutritional deficiencies that until now have been ignored by the standard of care in medicine.
Recently published research documents that Carbidopa-induced B6 deficiency causes:
- Deterioration of Parkinson’s symptoms
- An increase in the Parkinson’s death rate
- Dyskinesias
- Choreiform movements
- Glutathione depletion (facilitates neurotoxins)
Carbidopa-induced B-6 depletion cannot be properly addressed while the combination of L-dopa and carbidopa is taken, so patients on this combination must discontinue it and take a natural L-dopa to correct the problem.
Call us to make an appointment at 952-933-8900. Or visit our website www.lifemedical.us.
6. Does Carbidopa-induced B-6 depletion make Parkinson’s patients feel worse?
Under the current standard of care in medicine many Parkinson’s disease patients experience profound deterioration in the first 3 to 5 years. It is the finding of the Neuro Research report that much of this deterioration is from improperly managed relative nutritional deficiencies; many caused by carbidopa and not the disease. The findings suggest that Carbidopa does indeed make Parkinson’s patients feel worse.
7. What is the basis/history regarding this natural L-dopa supplement without Carbidopa?
Dr. Martin Hinz developed this method of using specific nutritional support to assist in situations where neurotransmitter balance is impaired, such as depression, anxiety, migraine headaches, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, ADD/ADHD, obesity and other conditions. The supplements provide essential amino acids and cofactor vitamins and minerals to help the body balance the catecholamine (epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine) and serotonin neurotransmitter systems.
The key point is that when imbalances in neurotransmitters occur, information is not relayed optimally in the nervous system which causes symptoms. Most people affected exhibit more than one of these conditions, but fail to make the connection between them.
8. Were there any papers written/studies done about this supplement?
Neuro Research is a medical education company. Multiple papers on the use of neurotransmitter precursors including L-Dopa and 5HTP have been published by Dr. Martin Hinz and are available on his site www.NeuroSupport.com. They recently published a paper co-authored with the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth, MN.
They have conducted a study on the best type of side effect management associated with the most effective Parkinson’s Disease treatment known which is L-dopa. Even though L-dopa is universally recognized as the most effective approach to managing Parkinson’s disease symptoms, most patients, not managed with the Neuro Research Protocol supplements, experience profound L-dopa side effects. These side effects prevent the patient from taking the daily dosing values that are high enough for optimal symptom control.
A paper published recently by Neuro Research looked for the most effective Parkinson’s approach. The conclusion was that the dopamine concentration in the patient’s system determines the severity of Parkinson’s disease symptoms. In other words, decreasing dopamine concentration increases Parkinson’s symptoms.
9. Where is the Neuro Research Protocol natural alternative for Parkinson’s Disease available?
Life Medical is a full service primary care clinic located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota near Minneapolis. www.lifemedical.us. Our clinic specializes in integrative medicine. Life Medical patients get the benefit of customized treatment plans that include conventional and complementary therapies.
Dr. Jacob Mirman is our Parkinson’s Disease expert. http://lifemedical.us/staff/jacob-i-mirman-md/
When you make an appointment at Life Medical he will take the time necessary to discuss the most appropriate treatment options for Parkinson’s Disease.
NeuroResearch Protocol therapy with NeuroReplete supplements helps the nervous system do its work more efficiently. With professional guidance, properly balanced amino acid therapy can provide relief in many people suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Working safely, Dr. Mirman will monitor your progress as this therapy replenishes and balances the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.
For more in-depth information on this therapy download Dr. Mirman’s article, Nervous System Function, Simplified. In this article, Dr. Mirman explains highly complicated physiology and biochemistry of synapses and Dr. Martin Hinz’s protocol in very simple language.
10. What if I live outside of the Twin Cities area?
At Life Medical our doctors are able to do some appointments via skype or phone. Dr. Jacob Mirman offers a free phone consultation to any patient so he can pre-qualify the patient and make sure they are a good candidate for the supplements.
The pre-qualification is totally free. Dr. Mirman will spend a great deal of time talking to the patient to get a clear understanding of their history and the severity of their symptoms.
11. What form does the supplement come in?
The Parkinson’s supplement is a jar of powder vs. pills because it is more economical. With Parkinson’s the dosing needs to be exact and that can be very challenging. As a result, Dr. Mirman closely monitors his Parkinson’s patients.
12. Have patients been successful on the supplements?
Dr. Jacob Mirman treats patients with Parkinson’s Disease using Neuro Research Protocol supplements. “It is such a satisfying feeling to see Parkinson’s patients get better using our natural supplements,” says Dr. Mirman. “It can take a great deal of work and research to determine the proper dosage, but once we have arrived at the proper level, the feeling of achievement is excellent for both me and the patient.”
Here is a story about one Parkinson’s patient who opted to use the supplements instead of mainstream drugs:
Bob (name has been changed) is a 74 year old man who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease four years ago.
“The Neuro Research Protocol therapy works pretty darn good,” says Bob. “I had started on mainstream drugs with a neurologist when I first got diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease four years ago, but as soon as I discovered Dr. Mirman and his natural L-dopa treatment I switched over to him. At first I had some trouble with nausea but Dr. Mirman adjusted my meds and now we have that under control.”
“Dr. Mirman is very accessible and very responsive. We communicate through email most of the time, and he really devotes a lot of time to my care. He is constantly adjusting my dosage so he pays careful attention to how I’m feeling. We have one face-to-face meeting per year. In addition to the L-dopa supplement I am on a regime of four additional supplements, one that helps with nausea. The Neuro Research is the main ingredient but the other supplements work together for the best results. It’s really a total program.”
He is very attentive and a good listener and he is willing to spend a great deal of time communicating with his patients. I feel that the Neuro Research program has worked for me so I would suggest that other Parkinson’s patients give it a try. In four years I feel like my symptoms have stayed pretty steady with Dr. Mirman’s monitoring and I don’t feel like the disease has progressed and I don’t feel like I am getting worse every day which is a great thing.”
13. Are the supplements covered by insurance?
The Neuro Research Protocol supplements for Parkinson’s patients are not covered by insurance. Parkinson’s disease patients need a high dose of L-dopa for good results. Their treatment supplement cost varies depending on the severity of the symptoms but it may range from $500 to $1,000 a month for some patients.
14. What can be done about the depression experienced by Parkinson’s Disease patients?
Depression for Parkinson’s patients is very common when treated with mainstream medicine. This is an area where a natural/alternative treatment can be very valuable to Parkinson’s patients. The treatment that we prescribe at Life Medical for Parkinson’s is also commonly used to treat our patients suffering from depression. So our Parkinson’s patients can achieve the added benefit from this treatment of treating both issues at the same time.
Certain mental health problems, like depression and disturbances — such as hallucinations and paranoia — are possible complications of Parkinson’s Disease and/or its treatment. Many times, the medications prescribed by main stream practitioners to treat Parkinson’s disease are actually responsible for causing depression and mental disturbances. For most people with Parkinson’s Disease and mental disturbances can be controlled but that usually means they need to take yet another medication for depression which is not optimum.
Call us to make an appointment at 952-933-8900. Or visit our website www.lifemedical.us.