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| Recent research carried out in Iceland, which has a very high incidence of Parkinson's disease, has shown that children born during or after a whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic are particularly vulnerable to Parkinson's disease in later life. The loss of dopamine production affects the balance between dopamine and acetylcholine in the brain with the result that messages to the muscles become garbled. It is estimated that the characteristic Parkinson's disease symptoms develop once 70% of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra have been destroyed. Alternative Treatment Until recently there were few alternative treatments available for Parkinson's disease patients. This is now changing. The finding that Parkinson's disease is almost certainly caused by oxidative stress aggravated by metal toxicity is a major step forward in understanding and eventually conquering the disease. |