The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7178 849-854
15 December 2001

This page
Reprint
Photocopy

  Remuneration
  GSK
  CPD
  Hospital pharmacy
  Patient packs
  Community pharmacy
  Holistic medicine
  The profession
  The Society

Letters to the Editor

Holistic medicine

Glutathione in Parkinson's disease

From Professor M. Hooper

The extensive article on Parkinson's disease (PJ, 27 October, p600) was concerned almost exclusively with dopaminergic aspects of this debilitating illness. There was only passing reference to other forms of treatment that were regarded as, at best, non-proven.

The "law of diminishing returns" with the established treatment might be associated with the increased generation of toxic free radicals from dopamine itself.

I write to draw attention to the use of intravenous glutathione in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Remarkable improvements in performance with a 42 per cent decline in disability have been noted. There is also evidence for significantly reduced liver detoxification capacity and a pivotal role for key components of energy metabolism in PD. Antioxidants can also make significant differences to ability and performance.

These insights have come out of the holistic paradigm of functional medicine that investigates and uses much more comprehensive treatment protocols. Further information is available from:

Perlmutter D. BrainRecovery.com. Perlmutter Health Centre, Naples, Florida, 2000. ISBN 0 9635874 1 2 (This is both a book and a website that consider parkinson's disease and other brain disorders. It provides detailed treatment protocols.)

Leader G, Leader L. Parkinson's disease: the way forward. London: Denor Press; 2001. ISBN 0 9526056 8 6 (This provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to Parkinson's disease including drugs, surgery, nutrition, bowel and muscle function, self-esteem, sexuality, stress control and carers.)

Institute for Functional Medicine www.functional medicine.org (This demands a comprehensive understanding of the many inter-related biochemical systems involved in maintaining health and the key role of effective nutrition in combatting disease processes.)

Malcolm Hooper
Sunderland

Back to Top

Previous Topic (Community pharmacy)

Next Topic (The profession)
Send your letter to The Editor