Download Crisis with Carbidopa

 Crisis with Carbidopa A paper exploring the health problems caused by carbidopa and an alternative solution at hand Natures Healthworks Limited 1. Introduction Natures Healthworks was started to share with as many Parkinson’s people as possible the story of living well with the condition and without being on medication. Since the beginning of this year (2015), we have met many people with Parkinson’s, who are on medication, and who aren’t doing well at all. In particular, some were people diagnosed only recently have declined more rapidly than others. There seemed to be a common denominator, these people were all being prescribed levodopa. People, on medication, are not living well with Parkinson’s. Their lives are quite awful. There hasn’t been any significant advance in conventional Parkinson’s medications in 50 years and, despite being told that a cure is ‘around the corner’, we don’t appear to be any closer. Meanwhile, if you have Parkinson’s, time isn’t on your side. That set questions running along the lines of, ‘why were people getting so much more sick when they went onto levodopa medication?’ This short document sets out our findings. To say they are alarming is an understatement. We hate problems without solutions and treat Parkinson’s as a problem in need of a solution. Research has revealed a therapy which solves the problem, and gets Parkinson’s people well again. 2. Medication Experiences The experiences that many people have recounted to us are of them having mild Parkinson symptoms such as rigidity, slowness of movement, fixed facial expression, awkward gait, anxiety etc at time of diagnosis. These are symptoms that had developed slowly over time. Then, they are prescribed carbidopa / levodopa and everything begins to change. They report that, for a few months, they might see an improvement in their symptoms, but then they start to worsen. They begin to experience dyskinesias (involuntary muscle movements), depression, insomnia and so on. The troubling 2 thing to them is that these symptoms seem to accelerate and then take over their lives. In some cases, in less than a year, the worst symptom of all comes into play. These are the On / Off periods between doses of the medication. The Off spells which occur for three or four times per day are when the effect of the dose has worn off and the person is waiting for the next dose to kick in. I have sat with people who are ‘off’ for 2½ hours in every four. What they are going through is truly awful – a living hell. The question we had was, ‘what’s behind this? Levodopa is supposed to be helping’. Perhaps, even worse, carbidopa / levodopa is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ of Parkinson’s medication and, if that doesn’t work, people are being told there’s nothing else for them that will. Levodopa and the Blood Brain Barrier Our research showed that only levodopa can cross the blood brain barrier, where it is converted into dopamine. The problem is, that as soon as we take levodopa as medication, an enzyme, aromatic l-­‐amino acid decarboxylase, starts to break the levodopa down into dopamine in the body and before it can cross the blood brain barrier. This enzyme is depriving the brain of the dopamine it needs. The obvious solution is to increase the levodopa dosage. This would allow for some levodopa to be lost along the way, but ultimately getting sufficient quantity across the blood brain barrier. That doesn’t work though, because the body can’t tolerate large doses of levodopa; it causes intense nausea. Back in the mid-­‐1970s, scientists came up with an answer -­‐ carbidopa. Carbidopa blocks the action of aromatic l-­‐amino acid decarboxylase (AADC). With the AADC issue taken care of, this allows the doctor to prescribe a small dose of levodopa which then can pass fairly unhindered through the blood brain barrier and deliver the desired dopamine requirement. 3. Where Does The Problem Lie We scoured the web for something that would indicate where the problem with levodopa lie, and what precisely was causing this worsening of these peoples’ situation. 3 But we could find nothing. As far as levodopa causing problems, we came up with a big fat zero. Then we had an interesting thought, ‘what if the problem lies with carbidopa?’ We pondered on the idea and came up with the thought, what if there is a condition called ’decarboxylase deficiency’? We popped that term into Google, and found that there is in fact a rare, inherited disorder called Aromatic l-­‐amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency that affects the way signals are passed between certain cells in the nervous system. AADC Deficiency We found that affected infants of AADC deficiency may have some or all of the following symptoms: Weak muscle tone Muscle stiffness Difficulty moving Involuntary writhing movement of limbs Lethargy Feed poorly Sleep disturbances Extreme irritability and agitation Pain Muscle spasms Uncontrolled movements, especially of head and neck Blood pressure regulation Nasal congestion Drooling Reduced ability to control body temperature Gastroesophageal reflux Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) Fainting To us, many of these symptoms look similar to the side-­‐effects associated with medications containing carbidopa. Carbidopa / Levodopa Side-­‐Effects So, then we entered the term ‘Side Effects of Sinemet’ (one widely used carbidopa / levodopa medication) into Google and up popped the NHS website for Sinemet and which lists the following side-­‐effects of this carbidopa/levodopa medication: 4 Firstly, it shows Common Side-­‐effects, meaning that More than 1 in 100 people who take Sinemet experience these effects. It doesn’t say quite how many in 100 experience the effects, but we have yet to meet anyone who isn’t experiencing one or more. Common Side-­‐effects (meaning More than 1 in 100 people who take Sinemet experience these effects): • abnormal muscle movement • chorea (jerky involuntary movements affecting especially the shoulders, hips, and face.) • confusion • depression -­‐ you or your carer should seek medical advice if you are depressed or have thoughts of committing suicide • difficulty sleeping • dry mouth • feeling dizzy • hallucinations • loss of appetite • nausea • sleepiness -­‐ this may be excessive or occur very suddenly at any time of the day • strange dreams • vomiting • weakness Then, the site goes onto list side-­‐effects, saying the frequency of these side-­‐
effects is unknown: • a drop in blood pressure on standing or sitting up • abnormal gait • abnormal laboratory test results • angioedema • balance or coordination problems • behavioural changes such as an urge to gamble, to buy or to shop, increased libido, hyper-­‐sexuality, an unusual increase in appetite or binge eating. • bitter taste • blood and bone marrow problems • blurred vision • breathing difficulties • burning sensation of the tongue • changes of pressure in the eye • changes to weight 5 •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
chest pain constipation convulsions dark coloured saliva, sweat or urine dementia diarrhoea dilated pupils double vision euphoria extrapyramidal side effects eyelid spasm fainting or brief loss of consciousness falls feeling agitated, anxious, numb, disorientated or stimulated flatulence flushing gastrointestinal problems including ulcers or pain general feeling of being unwell hair loss headaches heart problems hiccups hoarse voice Horner's syndrome hot flushes increased salivation increased sweating indigestion itching lowered blood pressure lowering of mental acuity malignant skin cancer may affect the results for certain tests muscle cramps muscle twitching neuroleptic malignant syndrome -­‐ this may occur when Sinemet is stopped abruptly or if doses of Sinemet are reduced too quickly. Symptoms include muscle stiffness, increased body temperature or changes to mental state oculogyric crisis oedema palpitations paraesthesiae 6 • periods of time where physical movement is slow or where there is a sudden change from good symptom control to poor symptom control • phlebitis • priapism • problems controlling movement • psychosis or psychotic-­‐like behaviour including delusions or paranoid thoughts • raised blood pressure • skin rash or rashes • spasms of the jaw muscles • swallowing difficulties • teeth grinding • tiredness • unexplained or easy bruising of the skin or mucous membranes • urinary incontinence • urinary retention • urticaria • worsening of tremors To my mind, there seemed to be some significant correlation between a number of the symptoms of the medication and AADC deficiency. Also, that seemed an awful lot of side-­‐effects for a medication that is supposed to be relieving symptoms. Confirmation Found The problem seemed to lie with carbidopa, but, we needed confirmation. Then, further digging around on the internet threw up this research study which was published in Clinical Pharmacology in 2014. This gave us the confirmation we needed. ‘Parkinson’s disease: carbidopa, nausea, and dyskinesia’ M Hinz, A Stein, E Cole This peer-­‐reviewed research paper states that ‘the mechanism of action of the carbidopa and benserazide causes irreversible binding and inactivation of vitamin B6 throughout the body. The consequences of this action are enormous, interfering with over 300 enzyme and protein functions.’ 7 Aside from compromising the function of 300 enzymes and functions, carbidopa ‘depletes vitamin B6 inducing vitamin B6 relative nutritional deficiency’ leading to: Depletion of glutathione, accelerating disease due to toxin damage Compromise of dopamine synthesis, thereby exacerbating Parkinson’s disease Irreversible dyskinesias Carbidopa side effects Additionally, following the introduction of carbidopa in 1976, there is a link to carbidopa and the 328% increase in the Parkinson’s death rate. This would explain why people diagnosed with Parkinson’s and who are prescribed carbidopa / levodopa have seen their health deteriorate markedly. Their life is now severely and increasingly restricted by Parkinson’s and/or their medication. We realize that each person’s Parkinson’s is different and that it proceeds at a different pace, so that may be a factor. But, each of those people say unequivocally that their situation changed the moment they were prescribed carbidopa and they rue the day that they accepted the prescription. 4. What next? Well, this is the bit which really got us excited. We hate problems without solutions and our subsequent research turned up the following paper, published in 2011 in the International Journal of General Medicine: Amino acid management of Parkinson’s disease: a case study Marty Hinz, Alvin Stein, and Thomas Uncini These doctors have developed a natural therapy which they have been using successfully for the past 15 years, The therapy facilitates the transport of levodopa to the brain, without using any AADC blocker and without side-­‐effects. People are recovering well from their Parkinson’s and living free of medication, side-­‐effects and Parkinson’s symptoms. 8 See the Amino Acid Therapy paper produced by Natures Healthworks for full information on this therapy. Natures Healthworks will be commencing offering the therapy in the UK, via doctors qualified in the Therapy, from September 2015. 9