WORLD PARKINSON’S DAY
World Parkinson's Day will be celebrated on 11th April 2021. This is part of Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month – the whole of April.
During April, especially on the 11th, we will see a lot of information about the search for the cause of Parkinson’s and the amazing efforts being made to find a “cure”.
What we won’t see are stories about those who have reversed their symptoms through their own efforts, or recovered their health with the help of Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM). Nor will we see appeals for money to research recovery protocols.
So here is my appeal for World Parkinson’s Day; let us focus on HEALTH, not illness.
We already know a great deal about what causes neurodegeneration in humans – in broad terms those causes are trauma, toxins and infections as well as some head injuries. Parkinson’s is considered a neurodegenerative disorder so, if an event or circumstance causes neurodegeneration, it will cause symptoms diagnosed as Parkinson’s in some patients. While head injuries are often very difficult to treat and healing can be very slow, trauma, toxins and infections ARE very treatable and, when we treat the cause, the symptoms identified as a disease fade away.
In my experience of over 20 years treating around 3000 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, MSA or PSP, I have seen that past trauma, family trauma or social trauma plays a significant role in the development of chronic disorders in over 98% of cases. Almost all my patients have experienced contact with environmental toxins and, those few who have avoided the really nasty ones such as herbicides, pesticides and industrial chemicals, have indulged in foods that can create illness (toxic foods that may surprise you). In the past 10 years, we have gained greatly enhanced knowledge about the role of “stealth infections” in creating, exacerbating or mimicking chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s disease.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each decade in searching for a “cure” for this cluster of symptoms we call Parkinson’s disease. A minuscule amount is spent on helping those diagnosed to help themselves.
We don’t need a “cure” and will never find one because there is no single cause of these symptoms. Every person diagnosed has a different story, variations in their symptom picture, and a colourful pathway leading to diagnosis. If we examine their story closely and understand how each experience and circumstance played a role in illness development, we can work as a team to reverse those illness influences and enable them to regain their health. This is RECOVERY.
We can’t expect to regain excellent health by taking drugs or having surgery. Drugs and surgery often play a valid, sometimes vital, role in saving lives, assisting damage repair and easing symptoms, but do not provide good health. As individuals, we must choose activities, treatments and attitudes that restore the best level of health possible. This usually involves making significant changes to our life choices, may include exploring painful, suppressed memories or generational trauma, undergoing examination or testing for infections we have never heard of, and being dedicated to an arduous, extensive process of restoration and recovery.
On World Parkinson’s Day 2021, I would like to see a new focus on RECOVERY and a move away from research for profit.
We need:
1. Research into the pathways leading to neurodegeneration;
2. Research into recovery pathways that have good clinical or anecdotal evidence;
3. Leadership from a celebrities or socially respected people who want to get well rather than begging for money for a “cure” that does not and never will exist;
4. Respectful conversations between western allopathic practitioners and complementary medicine practitioners;
5. A new look at what is considered “gold-standard” evidence as the current definitions have been proven very inadequate, even by ardent supporters;
6. Research funding donated by but not controlled in any way by manufacturers or distributors. One way to do this is to exact a levy (say 1%) of the turnover of all manufacturers and distributors involved in the Parkinson’s disease industry (and, yes, it is a big and profitable industry), then disbursed by a board including representatives from western medicine complementary medicine, Parkinson’s patient groups, people already involved in recovery research, and neuroscientists who do not work for Big Pharma.
You may find interest in reading chapter 35 - WHAT DO WE NEED NOW? - from my book “Rethinking Parkinson’s Disease" (https://www.rethinkingparkinsons.com/) as there is a much deeper discussion there.
On this World Parkinson's Day, I would like to move away from the negative picture of Parkinson’s disease as “progressive, degenerative and irreversible” or a “life sentence”, and look ahead to a near future when healthcare practitioners from all modalities will work respectfully together to support patients in making great life choices, and walking with them along a pathway of challenges and learning that leads to joyful good health.
John Coleman, April 2021