It may not seem logical to use dietary therapies to treat Parkinson’s Disease, but it should be our first course of action when a loved one begins to exhibit signs of dementia. The key is to realize that inflammation is behind most if not all symptoms.
New research into treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia are focused on addressing the immune system in a departure from the current theories of targeting amyloid plaque build-up. The immune system controls the amount of inflammation in our bodies.
“The immune system is an important component of Alzheimer’s disease, as we’re beginning to appreciate,” says Philip L. De Jager, chief of neuroimmunology at Columbia University in New York. “We’re still very early in understanding it [in] this context.”
Researchers are finally acknowledging that every aspect of our health is rooted in our immune systems. Naturopaths like myself understand that the body is a holistic entity and disease symptoms are indications of deeper issues affecting the immune system. Therefore, it’s not the symptoms themselves that we should address, but instead we should look at how we can support and strengthen the immune system by removing inflammatory triggers and waste products while delivering nourishment to the cells.
How does this connect to the gut? At least 80% of our immune system is based in the gut and the vagus nerve transmits signals from the gut to the brain in a one-way stream. An overworked immune system is weakened from maintaining chronic inflammation, and that inflammation occurs everywhere the bloodstream runs. Inflammation in the brain impairs brain activities such as memory, logic, clarity, and cognition.
“What was clear from the human genetics is that insufficient activity of the immune system is allowing the disease (Alzheimer’s) to develop,”Arnon Rosenthal, a neuroscientist and co-founder and CEO of Alector says.
What Dr. Rosenthal terms “insufficient activity” I would call “overactivity”. The immune system is so distracted by addressing the constant/chronic inflammatory triggers that it doesn’t have the resources to be fully functional in normal ways.
What can distract the immune system in this way and cause chronic inflammatory conditions?
- Unidentified food and chemical sensitivities.
- Digestive dysfunction.
- Hidden parasitic infection.
- Molds or fungus.
- Bacterial or viral infection.
In my clinic we use sophisticated blood and urine testing to identify hidden triggers of inflammation and help people reduce the inflammation in their bodies naturally. John L. successfully implemented targeted dietary changes after receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease and was able to regain the ability to write legibly and think clearly within weeks. Today, more than five years later, he has been so successful in avoiding inflammation that his doctors are questioning the validity of the initial diagnosis.
You can do it, too! Get started today with my free Anti-Inflammatory Kickstarter Course (coming soon)! Contact me for a free initial phone consultation to see if you could improve your health and wellbeing from removing inflammation from your body.
While I’m excited to see that the mainstream scientific and medical community is beginning to look at the immune system as a target for treating dementia, they are still focused on pharmaceutical treatments designed to alter how the immune system expresses itself. Wouldn’t you rather heal naturally simply by reducing the inflammation in your body?
After all: no inflammation = no symptoms. If you didn’t have any symptoms, would you still be sick?
