Print

[bosqueberg]

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking for information on plants that can help treat the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.

Have heard that Brahmi plant (Bacopa monnieri) has been used.

What plants do any of you know about that might be helpful?

Thank you.

[Hummingbird]

this is what I found on examine.com: "Mucuna Pruriens contains L-DOPA, also known as Levodopa. This is a dopamine precursor and sometimes used as a pharmaceutical to treat Parkinson's Disease (alongside another compound known as Carbidopa)"

I had grown Mucuna and it seems easy (still I killed it somehow.. ) but I have bacopa to share if you need any

1 Like bosqueberg likes this.

[bosqueberg]

Thanks Hummingbird, that is useful.

I have considered growing mucuna before. Will research further.

Much appreciation for the bacopa offer. I have a nice little plant growing. Going to make some plants for my friend whose father suffers from PD. Will let you know if my cuttings don't take.

[ONandONandON]

ive got a few Mucuna Pods growing.. not many,
but i could spare some in maybe about a month or two..
ebay maybe faster and easier to get them already powdered.

[bosqueberg]

Thanks ONandONandON, that would be very nice.

I found some article abstracts indicating several plants have been found to be effective in treating some symptoms, but without purchasing the article can't see what species they are talking about.

[MadPlanter]

If you grow velvet bean do yourself a major favor...get the non itchy type! If given the right conditions this vine goes buck wild running 40+ft in many directions and can eat trees alive. I grew the itchy kind ONCE and will NEVER again. It is a massively vigorous grower and producer however absolutely maddening to harvest and deal with. The itching is for REAL and it is in a realm beyond horrible. I was warned by the member here whom gave the seeds to me. I decided it couldn't be that bad...yeah fucking right...it is! Heed my warning don't do it! Get the non itchy!!!!

2 Likes bosqueberg and Hummingbird like this.

[Hummingbird]

Just found this:
"In rodents, low oral doses of Polygala tenuifolia appear to be protective against oxidative stressors modeling the development of Parkinson's disease. This effect may be related to the triterpenoid content of the root extract (tenuigenin and polygalasaponin F)."

as a sidenote, I hope these studies on live beings will not be done by humans in 100 years or less, otherwise some rational alien species will nuke the f out of us for sure

but hopefully this info helps you bosqueberg  I found it here:
https://examine.com/supplements/polygala-tenuifolia/#summary11-1

[Auxin]

A careful distinction must be made in selecting herbs for parkinsons. In most instances of reported benefit in test tube and mouse models the benefit is seen in preventing parkinsons model brain damage or reducing the impact of that damage right after it occurs rather than undoing damage done months or years before. This is because the prevention models are simply far easier and cheaper to perform.
So many herbs returning search hits for 'benefit in parkinsons', like Polygala tenuifolia, bitter Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and well over half the PD studies on Withania somnifera are actually for prevention and not treatment.
Thats not to say antioxidant herbs wouldnt be helpful, just that the context often doesnt match between research and patients and that should be understood.

2 Likes HulGil and Hummingbird like this.

[Neebu]

I read something about Ibogaine and Parkinson´s a while ago.
I know this will not help you, nor am I a doctor who can recommend the best possible in this situation.
But maybe it´s interesting to read.
I´ve tried to translate it from German to English:

GDNF (Gial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) is a protein discovered in 1991 with an exceptionally positive effect on nerve cell tissue; it stimulates nerve cell growth, especially that of dopamine neurons. In addition, GDNF also appears to possess neuroprotective properties .... In the first studies it was shown that GDNF significantly improves the general condition. The resulting files suggest that new nerve cells had formed. Ibogaine and its metabolite Noribogaine lead to a substantial and above all sustainable increase of the GNDF level in the brain. This suggests that ibogaine may enable very effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Columbia University in New York is currently exploring ways to cure Parkinson's disease with Ibogaine. Head of the team is Serge Przedborski - a renowned specialist in neurological aspects of disease, President of the World Parkinson's Coalition and Director of the Columbia Transnational Neuroscience Initiative.

So far it has not been possible to introduce GDNF directly and precisely into the desired regions of the brain (substantia nigra). However, ibogaine stimulates glial cells and neurons to produce more GDNF themselves, increasing GDNF levels throughout the brain. A Canadian company developed on the basis of ibogaine a preparation called CK-BR 12. It consists of Ibogaine HCl and a compound of twelve vitamins. So far only one interview with a test person has been published.

Is it just a hype, or is there something about it?
Does anyone know more about it?

1 Like Hummingbird likes this.

[Hummingbird]

Here I found some studies on Sida Cordifolia (growing one atm and I bumped into it), the studies seem to be conficting each other in my basic understanding since this isn't my native language and I'm no doctor, so I definitely suggest doing more research if you want to be sure the plants are actually usable for any particular disease case!

1) here they found Sida useful:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23994302

2) here not so much I guess. but there are other plants researched:
http://gyrus.hiim.hr/images/gyrus25/gyrus25_Part9.pdf
quote:
A British paper from 2014 discusses the effects of five Ayurvedic herbs in a well established Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) model of Parkinson disease. The herbs used were:
Mucuna pruriens (also known as Zandopa), Withania somnifera, Sida cordifolia, Centella asiatica and Bacopa monnieri. The group used different combinations of herbs, individual herbs, drug levodopa as positive control and no treatment as negative control. The flies were challenged with a climbing test, i.e. the percentage of flies crossing a designated distance (16.5 cm) within first 10 seconds were counted. The results showed that Bacopa mannieri significantly improved the climbing ability of Parkinson disease fly model, whereas surprisingly the same effect wasn’t noticed with Mucuna pruriens. This interesting finding implies the following: Mucuna pruriens, which has successfully been used in humans doesn’t have the same effect in fruit fly PD model, the PD ameliorating effect of Bacopa mannieri might not turn beneficial for humans considering previous statement vice-versa, fruit fly disease models might be used for drug screening, but some substances could unfortunately be discarded (even though they finally do show therapeutic effect in humans as Mucuna pruriens demonstrates).

interesting stuff - but again they killed more mice and flies and only gave me a bunch of confusing material so yay science  ! but maybe you find it useful so I thought to share - cheers!

[bosqueberg]

Thank you everyone for all of the replies and the useful information.

Yeah, unfortunately animal research results often do not coincide well with findings in humans.

Also, is interesting when one study shows significant results and another study finds none. Similar to how antidepressants can show clinical efficacy for many, but others receive no benefit or even adverse reactions. 

Wouldn't it be nice to unlock all the secrets our wonderful plants hold. To know exactly how to use all plants, and to know who they are good for and who should refrain from using. We have a long way to go, and a lot of catching up to do.

I like to think all plants have a purpose and uses.

[prasada]

  Ibogaine   for parkinsons..patients were taking 10 to 20 mg twice daily.  I think ck-br 12 is at an  experimental stage .  http://iboga.info/parkinsons-disease/

2 Likes ONandONandON and Neebu like this.