Parkinson’s and Mitohormesis | Dr Matthew Phillips

[Melissa McConaghy]

Always a hot topic area. Many thanks to for the presentation.

For any comments or questions, please add them here so that we can forward them on to the speaker.

[Carol Harrington]

I enjoy all your talks and am trying to follow your advice. Thank you for your help in dealing with Parkinsons. Carol Harrington, Nelson, NZ

[Matthew Phillips]

You are welcome, thank you for watching!

[Ivan Goldberg]

Thanks for an interesting presentation.

You mentioned specifically the genetic mutations involving PRKN and PINK1 as adversely affecting mitochondrial function. What about LRRK2 mutations?

Are there specific treatments or possible treatments for these mutation-associated PD patients?

Ivan

[Matthew Phillips]

Hi Ivan, yes there are many mutations I just mentioned a couple common ones.

Since the mutations affect/impair mitochondria, mitohormesis strategies might be able to improve mitochondria directly in familial/genetic forms of PD too (by restoring mitochondria, the negative effects of the mutated proteins on mitochondria may be reduced). There is some evidence in animals that this works, we need more human studies though. Best, Matt.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by  Matthew Phillips.

[Susan Sorensen]

Such and informative and action based webinar to make improvements to a PD diagnosis and to prevent PD in the first place. 🙏🏼

[Matthew Phillips]

Thank you Susan!

[Suzy Lenne]

Wouldn’t NO exposure to industrial chemicals be better than low dose exposure? ie this seems like one stressor that is better avoided altogether (like smoking for example). (Obviously if not possible to avoid chemicals fully, then limiting exposure is the second-best option). I just felt that including industrial chemicals as a ‘normal’ body stressor was a bit weird.

[Matthew Phillips]

Hi Suzy, surprisingly this is debatable. For some toxin exposures, there is evidence of a u-shaped curve (chronic exposure to higher levels are bad, but so are chronic exposures to very low levels, whereas intermittent exposure to lowish levels may be best). This is explained by mitohormesis. At very low levels, there is no stress so mitochondria do not get enhanced (excess recovery phase). At lowish levels, there is hormesis, so they get more enhanced with time. At high levels, they are overwhelmed by damage (excess stressor phase). It may seem counter-intuitive but there is quite a lot of evidence for this. Please note that some toxins (such as lead) may not conform to the u-shaped curve (ie they are toxic at any level), but even this is not certain. Hope that helps, Matt.

[Kerry Bacon]

Thank you Matthew,

So good to hear practical solutions that can be followed by all people, described simply and clearly.

Regards

Kerry

[Matthew Phillips]

Cheers Kerry!

[Grace Biggs]

Thanks Matthew, that was most informative. Where is the best place to find more information on this topic/ the research on this topic? Papers, podcasts etc

[Matthew Phillips]

Thanks Grace. Well, there area few papers out there but not many. I am writing a more comprehensive perspective on this so if you want to know when that comes out, just go to metabolicneurologist.com as all our major works end up there. Matt.

[Linda Biggs]

Thank you Matthew. A systemic approach that takes evolution into account makes sense.

*I see from James Stott’s presentation that diabetic treatments that lower blood sugar are proving to be helpful in the treatment of PD. Would a low-carb or ketogenic diet be addressing the same root cause?? Does elevated insulin disrupt mitcohondrial health?

*PD is a disease of too little dopamine – Excercise that increase dopamine levels in brain has been shown to be helpful as explained in James Stotts’ presentation. Cold water plunging also increases dopamine production – would this be of benefit in people with PD?

In both the case of exercise and deliberate cold water exposure, are the neurons that produce dopamine able to “up their game”? Or are they too damaged too produce more dopamine?

Look forward to your response. Thanks again.

[Matthew Phillips]

Hi Linda, thank you.

Metformin and other meds work along similar lines to fasting and keto diet protocols, but they are much, much weaker. To my view, too many meals + processed carbs leads to elevated insulin, which in turn overwhelms the cell and mitochondria with glucose, which produces excess electron flow in the mitochondria, which leads to excess reactive oxygen species, which leads to damage.

As for exercise and cold water exposure, yes the induce dopamine and that is good. However, viewing PD as a disorder of inadequate dopamine is a bit superficial – nly looking at the “tip” of themetabolic iceberg. In my view, the main long-term benefit of these strategies is to induce mitohormesis when done properly, but they need to be balanced out with the opposite. Exercise balanced with deep rest recovery protocols. Cold (or hot) temperature exposure balanced out with ambient temperatures. Etc.

Cheers, Matt.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by  Matthew Phillips.

[Shirley Redmon]

I enjoyed your presentation very much! Do you have any experience or recommendations concerning red light helmet therapy to help increase the energy levels of the mitochondria? Thank you!

[Matthew Phillips]

Thank you Shirley,

Not really, I have no practical experience in this, and there are people out there who know more about red light therapy than myself in PD. However, in theory, from a mitohormesis perspective, oscillating periods of red light therapy to “recharge” the mitochondria balanced with periods of minimal red light exposure to allow them to adapt might be a very good strategy. Just not as much research in this area as the others.

Hope that helps, Matt.

[Deleted User]

Matt, I became aware your work two months ago, when I was diagnosed with PD.

Immediately I began to eat a Ketogenic Diet using recipes from your Metabolic Therapy Program. I aim to eat one meal a day (OMAD).

I have done three, two days fasts followed by five days of refeeding. My goal is to do a five day fast once a month.

One question – in the MTP, you say to “eat any combination of recipes except the CYCLING MEALS”. I couldn’t find what ‘cycling meals’ means?

Thank you so much for your groundbreaking work.

Anne-Marie

[Matthew Phillips]

Cheers Anne-Marie!

The cycling meal refers to the berries and cream meal – I forgot to remove the term “cycling” from the plan, I brought it in from a different plan, apologies.

Take care, Matt.

[Susan Tobias]

Berries aren’t processed carbs so I’m wondering why berries and cream are problematic. I have a genetic predisposition to PD which I’m hoping to mitigate through diet. I enjoy a bowl of berries with full-fat yoghurt and sprinkled walnuts – Matthew, thank you for your great presentation, but is my lunch a bad idea?