Multiple System Atrophy?

[Shannon Nelson]

Can anyone explain this definition further for me?

"Multiple System Atrophy: A neurodegenerative disorder characterized by
parkinsonism, ataxia, and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous
system."
What would be included under "dysfunction of the autonomic nervous
system"? I know that the ANS is divided into sympathetic and
parasympathetic systems, and that between them they regulate the
involuntary processes of the body--stress arousal and recovery, immune
responses, and... that sort of stuff. But I'm vague on the specifics;
what might be the signs of this in the context of "parkinsonism", other
than tremor?

Thanks!
Shannon

[eternalhealth]

Shannon
Parkinsons is associated with a loss of dopamine in the basal ganglia and a progressive degeneration of pigmented nuclei of the brainstem.
The 3 main symptoms are tremor, stiffness/rigidity of muscles and slow movement. Sometimes only one side of the body is affected. The face can be expressionless and anxiety can be great because the body will not keep up with the faster working of the brain, causing frustration.
Ther might be involuntary dribbling and the patient often loses selfconfidence.
There may be high copper concentration in CSF.the copper can bind to histidine or albumin stimulating lipid peroxidation and it can inactivate the D2 dopamine receptor.
Poor phase 11 liver detoxification, elevated homocysteine levels,CNS infection, heavy metal toxicity, nurient deficiencies i.e. zinc, selenium, r-lipoic acid and excess manganese, lithium carbon monoxide, pesticides and synthetic opiates can contribute to the problem.
Very hard to treat with success as by the time the symptoms show there can be an 80% loss of the substantia nigra cells.There is a definite priorty to preserve the cells left and glutathione can be helpful here.
kind regards
Beverly
www.eternalhealthconcepts.com
________________________________

[DCR]

Weakness, general slow nerve (reflex and purposful) response and disturbances of gait are other specific signs in the context of 'parkinsonism'.

[Shannon Nelson]

Thanks Beverly and Donna!
Do you know how one would distinguish "multiple systems atrophy" from
Parkinson's--or whether it makes any difference in terms of either
therapy or prognosis? (I'm just fishing for all background I can get,
at the moment!)
Shannon

[DCR]

In my experience the labels that are used by the 'traditional' medical
professionals depend more on the insurance company forms than the actual
symptoms experienced by individuals. I have seen far too many people given
the label of "Parkinson's" when it is just Essential Tremor - and visa
versa - but when Dr's spend less than 15 minutes with someone - I guess
they rely on the training they went through in a specific medical school -
as well as what they know the insurance company will pay for. [Sorry - I
know there are some excellent MDs out there - but recently I have seen the
results from some very poor practices.]

[Dr. Joe Rozencwajg, NMD]

Don't be sorry, it is unfortunately a fact, and the worst part is that we (or at least my class and my year) have not been trained like that.
Just this morning someone phoned me upon recommendation from a health shop asking what to do with her husband's warfarin..........the GP who is supposed to monitor it, test and adapt the doses did not even bother to tell them about the possible complications of bleeding, what to do with diet, analgesics, supplements, etc,....
Not only does that saddens me, it enrages me: this is not what most of us planned when we attended medical school, this is not how we were taught, this is not what we were supposed to do.
Am I glad not to be registered within conventional medicine any more................sorry for the rant....
Dr. J. Rozencwajg, MD, PhD, NMD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind".