New Treatment Possibility for Parkinson's.

 Scientists uncover new targets for treating Parkinson's disease (medicalxpress.com)

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found that people with Parkinson's disease have a clear "genetic signature" of the disease in their memory T cells. The scientists hope that targeting these genes may open the door to new Parkinson's treatments and diagnostics.

​Yeah not going to work because any attempt to alter immune function via gene manipulation has all sorts of undesirable effects. The genetic therapy is a pipe dream. We know so little about genetics but give it another 50 years ... .

The big problem with immunotherapy is the side effects. Cancer immunotherapy can kill some cancer cells(cancer immunotherapy while very valuable is somewhat oversold in the media) but the use of checkpoint inhibitors(signalling molecules that "take the breaks off" cell killing immune T cells) can result in autoimmune pathology and very high levels of inflammation leading to widespread tissue damage but better that than being dead right? ... nah sometimes no people give up on cancer therapies. Can't blame 'em for trying and can't blame 'em for dying. 

This result in relation to Parkinson's doesn't surprise me because some months ago I read how a class of cell killing T cells(CD 8 identified in the paper but probably also CD28?) are present in the key region of the brain impacted by Parkinson's(the substantia nigra) and that the number of those T cells correlated with the expression of the toxic protein alpha synuclein which kills the dopamine producing neurons. This result is akin to many studies I read long ago in relation to brain injury which also demonstrated the penetration of peripheral immune cells into the brain often causes considerable damage. 

What can be done, and anyone interested in a long cognitive life should think very carefully about this, is to optimise immune responses in such a way to maximise benefits of immune function and reduce the risks of immune dysfunction so common with age. So common in fact they have fancy terms for it: inflammaging, antagonistic pleiotropy.

There is now abundant information about optimising immune function so I'm not going to address that here except to state that prior to reading this article I read an article on how maintaining Vitamin D levels >50 led to an improved immune response to the COVID vaccines. 

Some quick cliff notes on keeping the gray matter:

All the obvious stuff and:

• Here's a great idea for brain health: avoid concussion! 
• Stop snacking.
• Optimise gut health. I've never been a fan of probiotics but I'm rapidly becoming a convert. Eat a variety of plant foods because the more different plants the more diverse the microbiome which generally is a net positive for gut health. A few weeks ago I read studies indicating that there could be benefits of optimising gut health in relation to Parkinson's disease progression. That was a rodent study so let's not get too excited although many politicians should be pleased with that study result. 
• Try ketogenic dieting. It works wonders for some and appears to offer some benefits for those with dementia.
• Restricted time feeding\fasting.  

Optimise sleep hygiene: 

• Don't read in bed, don't watch TV in bed. 
• The bedroom is not a boardroom so don't work in it. 
• Keep the room dark and if in a noisy area use ear plugs. 
• Don't drink too much fluids prior to bed; for obvious reasons. 
• Avoid intense exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime. Something I need to look into is the optimal exercise time relative to circadian rhythms.
• Regular sleeping pattern. 

• Try meditation. I mean really try it because it can take weeks to get the knack of it. It won't make you more creative or insightful but it can shift the nervous system balancing act(sympathetic-parasympathetic) into a more relaxed state which reduces chronic cortisol expression and improves immune function. 
• Get rid of toxic people. If necessary, for a fee I'll kill them.  
• Optimising DHA intake and consumption through appropriate cooking of fatty fish.