This week’s episode of the Podcast of the Year explores a very big question - what causes Parkinson’s? There are all sorts of theories, some of them outlandish in the extreme. When I went public about my diagnosis in May 2019, among the thousands of lovely messages from well-wishers, was a tweet from someone who knew exactly why I had contracted Parkinson’s - I had been standing too close to the new 5G phone masts.
I have a lot of respect for Prof Farrer’s views and I think he is right about properly understanding the engine as the route to fixing the problem. However, there are a lot of pieces of the Parkinson’s jigsaw that remain unassembled, and his theories are just some of many competing ideas.
As an aside, PD has run in my family for 4 generations and relevant members of my family had our genomes sequenced 7 years ago but still no news (whatever we have is something previously unknown). Unpicking the genome is exceptionally difficult, so whilst Prof Farrer is right to focus on genetics, the reality is that this is a long hard scientific slog.
I was really interested to hear about your discussion about what causes PD. My husband and I have been together for almost 56 years. Married for 53. My husband John was diagnosed with PD in 2015. He has no one in his family, who has PD. I however had my mum who was diagnosed with PD when she was about 73. We are of interest to PD frontline and both take part in research. We ve probably been exposed to the same environments and have lived from as far away as Devon but mostly in London. So a wide spread of both country and towns and been in similar industries. How is it he has PD and I don’t if there is a genetic link? We have had that testing too and neither have the common PD gene. He does and always had talking in his sleep, not too severe but acting out playing rugby etc. I have heard that can be a precursor to PD. My mother was also diabetic and there can be a link there, I’ve also read. In simple terms that’s why diabetic drugs might be a help with PD, there have been much research about that both here and abroad. Thanks for bringing all the positive publicity to this very complicated condition.
Setting all theories that have an obvious agenda (anit vax or 5G towers) there are a few factoids hidden within those conspiracy theories that I think deserve our consideration. Microwaves break the blood brain barrier allowing toxins directly into the brain, so the combination of microwaves and a toxic environment is a dangerously toxic soup =/
Here is another outlandish theory, but one that I have checked out in the existing literature, namely that the triggering factor is abnormal function in the vestibular organs in the inner ear, leading to degeneration of higher vestibular circuits in the brain. Supporting evidence:
1. Risk factors for PD include deafness, tinnitus and dizziness.
2. Neuroticism is a risk factor for PD and ear disease.
3. Many chemicals and toxins are risk factors, precluding any specific biochemical cause. The inner ear contains many exquisite membranes and ionic gradients, so that it acts as a general sentinel and protector against poisons, hence nausea and vomiting. A vast number of drugs have nausea and dizziness as side-effects.
Superb episode, as always.
I have a lot of respect for Prof Farrer’s views and I think he is right about properly understanding the engine as the route to fixing the problem. However, there are a lot of pieces of the Parkinson’s jigsaw that remain unassembled, and his theories are just some of many competing ideas.
As an aside, PD has run in my family for 4 generations and relevant members of my family had our genomes sequenced 7 years ago but still no news (whatever we have is something previously unknown). Unpicking the genome is exceptionally difficult, so whilst Prof Farrer is right to focus on genetics, the reality is that this is a long hard scientific slog.
I was really interested to hear about your discussion about what causes PD. My husband and I have been together for almost 56 years. Married for 53. My husband John was diagnosed with PD in 2015. He has no one in his family, who has PD. I however had my mum who was diagnosed with PD when she was about 73. We are of interest to PD frontline and both take part in research. We ve probably been exposed to the same environments and have lived from as far away as Devon but mostly in London. So a wide spread of both country and towns and been in similar industries. How is it he has PD and I don’t if there is a genetic link? We have had that testing too and neither have the common PD gene. He does and always had talking in his sleep, not too severe but acting out playing rugby etc. I have heard that can be a precursor to PD. My mother was also diabetic and there can be a link there, I’ve also read. In simple terms that’s why diabetic drugs might be a help with PD, there have been much research about that both here and abroad. Thanks for bringing all the positive publicity to this very complicated condition.
I think it should be part of the diagnosis process to ascertain if you have the genes associated with Parkinson’s.
Setting all theories that have an obvious agenda (anit vax or 5G towers) there are a few factoids hidden within those conspiracy theories that I think deserve our consideration. Microwaves break the blood brain barrier allowing toxins directly into the brain, so the combination of microwaves and a toxic environment is a dangerously toxic soup =/
Here is another outlandish theory, but one that I have checked out in the existing literature, namely that the triggering factor is abnormal function in the vestibular organs in the inner ear, leading to degeneration of higher vestibular circuits in the brain. Supporting evidence:
1. Risk factors for PD include deafness, tinnitus and dizziness.
2. Neuroticism is a risk factor for PD and ear disease.
3. Many chemicals and toxins are risk factors, precluding any specific biochemical cause. The inner ear contains many exquisite membranes and ionic gradients, so that it acts as a general sentinel and protector against poisons, hence nausea and vomiting. A vast number of drugs have nausea and dizziness as side-effects.
There is a well established link between a "peculiar musky smell" and having Parkinson's.
The strength of the smell also correlates with the severity of the Parkinson's symptoms.
What causes such smells? Usually the answer is bacteria.
So, could this bacteria causing the musky smell be the thing that infects people and causes Parkinson's?
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