My husband and I receive your newsletter and listen to many of your interviews. I am encouraged by your message of working toward recovery. I do have one question, and it deals with the physiology of dopamine.

Conventional medicine explains the symptoms by stating that the dopamine producing cells in the substantia nigra are dying, and this is irreversible. Do you think the cells are dying but this state is reversible? Or do you question the whole idea of the cells dying? If PD is simply a collection of symptoms, what causes the symptoms?

We are working hard toward recovery, although the path is discouraging right now.

Regards,

Don and Dianne

You ask if I question the idea that cells are dying. I have no doubt but that cells are dying throughout the body every second of our life. It is the sweet nature of life as it is sustained by the awakening of new cells and the death of cells whose time has come.

Do cells in the Substantia Nigra die? Of course they do, just as the cells in my right big toe. I say,

Out with the old and in with the new.

The process of old cells dying and new cells emerging gives life juice and power. It we hang onto the old, our life force withers away.

You ask if the state of illness is reversible? My answer unequivocally is yes. There are beliefs that typically drag us down into the sewer of depression and illness. Once those beliefs are transformed, recovery becomes possible as long as the physical body is given the support it needs to heal.

You ask what causes the symptoms? I write quite a bit about this subject in my new book I just released this week, Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease. There are a number of interrelated factors that contribute to the symptoms including trauma, stress, toxins, poor nutrition, lack of exercise and a digestive system that has shut down.

Here is what I think. There is no single therapy or approach that can offer the promise of  full recovery. Parkinson’s is one of the most complex conditions that can exist in the body. It takes a multifaceted approach to heal.

A deficiency of dopamine plays a minor role in what is happening within the various systems of the body. I can assure you it is not the central character in this drama. I suggest you step back and begin thinking in a much larger and broader context.

It sounds like you have launched a path on the road to recovery. Take action on whatever therapies or approaches that call to you. A little experimentation will go a long way in helping you figure out what you need to do for yourself to recover.

It is very easy to get discouraged, since the road to recovery tends to have quite a few curves and unexpected twists. When you get discouraged, as is the case today, just acknowledge the thought and whisk it away for it is not serving your best and highest good.

I have a concluding thought for you. You mention you are working “hard” toward recovery.  It certainly does take an unwavering commitment, but if the work is “hard” it may actually be stressful, provoking symptoms. Perhaps the thought form could be transformed by the mantra:

‘We are having fun as we travel down the road to recovery. Every day reveals exciting new discoveries that feed our souls, our bodies and our minds.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery