What Causes Parkinson’s Disease?

It is now thought that Parkinson’s disease is caused by:

‘Free Radicals’.

We are yet to determine where these free radicals come from and how they get through the blood/brain barrier.

What is a free radical?

A free radical is a cell, which has one electron missing. Cells are made up of a number of atoms of various chemicals. Atoms consist of a nucleus, a varying number of protons and at least two electrons. The missing electron makes the cell unstable, and it has to find a replacement electron, from another cell.

In the case of Parkinson’s disease, free radicals have taken their required electrons from certain neurons (Brain cells), in a specific area of the brain,

which kills those neurons.

Normally, when body cells die, they get removed from the body and replaced by new cells. However, the damaged neurons, in the brain of a Parkinson’s patient,

remain in the brain in a ‘dormant’ condition.

Why? I think scientists have yet to discover the answer to this question.

It is possible for the ‘dormant’ cells to be repaired by:

glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF),

which is produced by the brain:

when it thinks the body is under attack.

(Glial cells are brain cells or neurons; Neurotrophic factor means something capable of repairing a brain cell.)

This GDNF is created, when we do

‘energetic’ exercise,

such as hard running or walking, which raises the rate of breathing and the pulse rate for a prolonged period of time. That is what makes the brain think that it is under attack, because when we are under attack, we would either fight, or run away. This is known as the, ‘Fight or Flight Syndrome’. When the GDNF finds a damaged brain cell it is capable of repairing it by replacing the missing electron. Thus we can repair our damaged brain cells, by doing some prolonged walking or running, and maintaining it for an optimal period of one hour.

Most of us are not capable of walking or running fast enough, in order to create this GDNF in our damaged brain. This does not mean that we cannot make use of this natural repair kit, it means that we have to slowly build up our bodily fitness to the point where

we can sustain this level of exertion.

All of us can walk fast enough to make us breathe heavily, for a short period of time, even if it is less than one minute. Then, if we do just that, three times a week, with one day’s break in between each exercise period, we are all capable of slowly building that time up to the point where we can sustain it for one hour. This assumes that we do not suffer from some other health problem, which would prevent us from doing this. Doctors recommend this for people who have had heart problems, because it improves the blood circulation, the lungs and the whole muscular system.

Reluctance to exercise is not an excuse for not exercising!

Perhaps the Free Radical is produced in the brain!

Every cell in the body, including brain cells, is regularly replaced by a new cell. This process is called:

Apoptosis

When this happens, the brain cell gains an electron, and becomes a

free radical.

What if that very same brain cell damages a healthy brain cell, which is what happens with Parkinson's Disease?