Calcium activity in the brain plays an important role in the onset of Parkinson’s disease, according to a study in mice. The finding helps explain why common calcium-blocking drugs, such as those used to control blood pressure, appear to protect against the disease.

Damage to dopamine-releasing cells in a brain area called the substantia nigra (SN) is known to be involved in the onset of Parkinson’s disease. “Pacemaking” cells in this area release pulses of dopamine, a hormone crucial for movement and balance. So damage to these cells leads to the symptoms of Parkinson’s – such as tremors and stiffness.

A key question is why cells of the SN are so much more susceptible to damage than those in surrounding areas. Now it seems that calcium, which enters these cells to regulate their activity, is the culprit.

Jaime Guzman from Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues compared the effect of calcium activity in two brain areas in mice – the pacemaking SN and a neighbouring area where there was no pacemaking activity.

Oxidative stress
They found that the calcium influx in the SN caused much higher levels of oxidative stress – pressure on cells to counteract the effects of molecules such as free radicals, that can damage proteins and DNA. Oxidative stress is thought to be the source of the cell damage that leads to Parkinson’s disease.

“Although calcium channels normally participate in pacemaking, they aren’t essential as other ion channels can pick up the slack,” says James Surmeier, who was part of the team. Treating mice that had Parkinson’s disease with calcium-channel-blocking drugs might therefore prevent cell damage without hindering essential pacemaking activity.

To investigate this possibility, the team used mice lacking a gene called DJ-1. The absence of this gene causes early onset Parkinson’s disease, and mice who lacked the gene showed much higher levels of damage to the dopamine-releasing cells of the SN than normal mice. When treated with drugs that block calcium channels, however, the degree of cell damage dropped to levels seen in other types of brain cells that are relatively resistant to oxidative stress.

The right drug
The findings explain why previous research conducted by Christoph Meier at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland showed that calcium-blocking hypertension drugs reduced the risk of Parkinson’s disease, while other types of drug used to treat high blood pressure did not.

“A lot seems to point towards a potential benefit of calcium-channel blockers in Parkinson’s disease,” says Meier, “but it’s too early to tell whether they help prevent the disease or could improve the situation of patients who already have a diagnosis.”

Surmeier is more confident. “We think that anyone at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease should benefit by the use of calcium blockers such as isradipine,” he says, as it appears that the dopamine-producing cells in the SN begin to disappear well before the onset of symptoms.

Isradipine is already in a phase II clinical trial for people with early stage Parkinson’s disease, and Surmeier is now planning to investigate more selective and potent drugs. 

So Magnesium must have an impact here ,  as we know that magnesium will balance the calcium  when is taken 2 to 1 ratio , 2 magnesium to 1 calcium . also prevent other mineral build up  and flush them out. The researched should focus on magnesium. 

however, on multiple “alternative health”-type websites, many of which are sponsored by suppliers of vitamin/mineral supplements and various “alternative-health” products, the theory is widespread that PD may be caused by heavy-metal toxicity and that since magnesium blocks the absorption of several other metals, a magnesium deficiency can be responsible for the development of PD. some writers go on to say that the effects of PD, esp tremor, can be minimized or eliminated by magnesium supplementation.

I am not a medical person and only having PhD in public health so I always look for valid research and lab results, and so i am leery of offering any speculation as to the reliability of this magnesium-deficiency theory. however, i will say that the fact that i did not find any references to it on my trusted mainstream medical websites makes me skeptical of its validity at this time. But may be  because there are no trial tests. May be we need a full study on the effect of magnesium on PD patients.

On the other hand, by not finding any mainstream references to an association between PD and magnesium does not mean that no info is there, it just means that I didn’t find any reliable source yet.

I have long been suspicious of “theories” proposed by many proponents of so-called “alternative” therapies and supplements.

Too many of these hucksters seem to base their claims solely upon testimonial evidence taken under uncontrolled conditions. They conveniently forget that testimonials can also be an outcome of placebo effect, which operates in as many as a quarter of patients who are told that some preparation “will help you”.

Some therapists said that Consuming a daily regimen of, say, magnesium citrate by pill (not magnesium oxide) can and will help manage such symptom of Parkinson’s as constipation, anxiety, and insomnia.

There is no question that magnesium is an effective treatment for constipation , and is an active ingredient in many laxatives. If you are taking magnesium and develop diarrhea, you may also become dehydrated and develop dizziness or fatigue. In this instance water becomes a great treatment .

Placebo effect can influence outcomes for mainstream medical therapies as well as for alternative therapies. One of the problems with the alternatives is that their originators rather often resist doing the double-blind controlled trials used in mainstream medicine, which are intended to assess whether the positive outcomes are actually the result of the therapy or of placebo effect.

If it seems that I over-generalize my skepticism of alternative therapies, then I’ll just have to say “get over it, people.” If an alternative therapy actually works, it won’t be “alternative” for long. It will be integrated into the mainstream once it is truly validated and standardized.

There are many examples of this principle at work — not least of which is the increasing use of acupuncture and acupressure in pain control.

Thank you for reading.

Steve Ramsey, PhD.  Calgary, Alberta- Canada.