The Contributing Factors and Possible Treatment for Neurodegenerative Conditions

 

“Decalcifying the pineal gland and treating the body wholistically is key but physiotherapy is a critical part of the therapy as well, alongside with lifestyle changes.”

 

I had a family member who developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which meant that an active man had to face a devastating disease. The surrender of your physical facilities while your mind remains active and watching yourself become an invalid and slowly die—this is one of the worst combinations I can think of. When he was first diagnosed, I advised him to exercise and to keep his muscles active but at the time my advice was not in line with an ALS authority at the University of British Columbia: his advice was to preserve the muscles for they thought with ALS it would further weaken the muscle tissues. A few years later he changed his recommendation but by that time it was too late.

ALS and other neuromuscular diseases have a lot in common although the medical treatment does not have the vision of wholistic health; instead, they label the condition and treat it with drugs. I have been a fan of Michael J. Fox from his days as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties and as Marty McFly in Back to the Future—such a brilliant actor with so much energy. When he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and appeared on television, my heart sank, it was like seeing my family member. This is going back to 2011. I do not know what the connection was, whether it was because I was also a lower mainland BC boy, or because of my family member but I wanted to help him, so I went into research mode and produced a formula I called Tremor Support. After I received the licensing, I was later told by Health Canada that I could not use the active ingredient in Mucuna pruriens, also known as the velvet bean. It was like cutting off my legs. How is that possible that you can eat the plant but not use it in a supplement formula? They knew what I knew, that it is highly valued as a potent natural source of L-dopa, an amino acid that acts as the direct precursor to dopamine. The biggest biological advantage of the velvet bean is its faster onset of action and longer-lasting relief when compared to standard synthetic medications. With what Health Canada did, I never introduced my formula to market. My protocol for my neuromuscular disease patients was more than this formula though, so let me share with you some insight to my research in this newsletter.

First, let’s look at the contributing factors of the development of this condition. The surge in the prevalence of various mental illnesses and neurological disorders, including autism, tardive dyskinesia, ADHD, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, MS, epilepsy and depression, has raised significant concerns among researchers, healthcare professionals, and the general public. Even though advances in medical knowledge and diagnostic tools have enabled better detection and understanding of these conditions, we still need to explore the potential role of missing elements in the overall equation, such as the impact of lifestyle, nutrition, and early interventions, to be able to mitigate and even reverse the growing burden of mental and neurological disorders in today’s society.

 

The contributing factors

Based on research, one of the contributing factors affecting the central nervous system is a form of B12 deficiency. The study published in Science Translational Medicine described a possible autoimmune form of functional vitamin B12 deficiency that primarily affects the brain rather than the blood. Researchers identified antibodies against CD320, a receptor needed to transport B12 into cells and across the blood-brain barrier. They found that blood B12 measurements may miss a brain-specific B12 deficiency because blood-forming cells can use an alternative pathway for B12 uptake. Overall, the findings suggest that anti-CD320 antibodies may identify a previously underrecognized neurological condition in which B12 cannot adequately reach the brain, potentially making it treatable with a combination of immunomodulation and B12 supplementation.

In practice, B12 supplementation, especially high-dose injectable B12, has been proven to be effective in the treatment of ALS. “The strongest evidence for a pharmacologic effect is in ALS: 50 mg of methylcobalamin injected twice weekly slowed decline by 43 percent in early-stage disease, and Japan approved it in 2024. In Parkinson’s, low B12 predicts twice the rate of motor decline and a 5-fold risk of dementia, but no trial of high-dose treatment has been completed.”[1]

Another factor is pineal gland calcification (PGC). The pineal gland has the highest calcification rate among all organs and tissues in the human body, making it the most calcified gland. This calcification, which involves the deposition of calcium and other minerals like phosphorus, is a common finding, with a pooled prevalence of 61.65% in adults, increasing with age. The gland’s unique location outside the blood-brain barrier and its rich blood supply contribute to its susceptibility to accumulating calcium and other substances, including fluoride, which may also be involved in the calcification process. While calcification is often considered a normal part of aging, it can potentially impair the gland’s function. “Pineal gland calcification (PGC) has been postulated to reduce endogenous melatonin production and to associate with sleep disturbance, neurodegeneration, psychiatric disorders, vascular disease and altered endocrine function.”[2] This means that PGC may contribute to the progression of neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease.

Migraines can also increase the likelihood of neurodegenerative diseases. According to a research Midlife migraine and late-life parkinsonism[3] from 2014 “people with migraine with aura were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s than people with no headaches. (…) Overall, 19.7 percent of those with migraine with aura had symptoms, compared to 12.6 percent of those with migraine with no aura and 7.5 percent of those with no headaches. Women with migraine with aura were also more likely to have a family history of Parkinson’s disease compared to those with no headaches. ‘A dysfunction in the brain messenger dopamine is common to both Parkinson’s and RLS [restless legs syndrome], and has been hypothesized as a possible cause of migraine for many years.’”[4]

An overactive LRRK2 gene mutation has also been linked to Parkinson’s. According to a Stanford Medicine study[5] excessive LRRK2 activity may push dopamine-producing neurons toward dysfunction and loss. The study is interesting because while conventional goal in Parkinson’s treatment is often to manage symptoms or slow deterioration, this research suggests that if the underlying mechanism can be corrected early enough, damaged but not yet completely lost neurons might be able to recover some of their function by blocking the enzyme for long enough. This may restore cellular communication and allow some damaged nerve connections to recover.

 

Possible treatment

Because the gut microbiome may actively influence Parkinson’s-related brain changes, treating the gut is an integral part of treatment. According to a California Institute of Technology (Caltech) study[6], probiotics could work as a potential therapy for the disease. The findings point to the gut as the origin of Parkinson’s disease, not only in the brain as previously thought. Gastrointestinal problems such as constipation often precede the decline in motor skills seen in patients with Parkinson’s.

Melatonin is another fundamental element when it comes to treatment because, as mentioned before, reduced melatonin production—due to increased oxidative stress which enhances the process of dopamine (DA) degeneration—is associated with neurodegenerative conditions. Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) seeds contain high concentration of L-dopa, a direct precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Mucuna pruriens is considered as an alternative to the pharmaceutical medication levodopa. A randomized, controlled, double-blind crossover trial[7] suggests that this natural source of L-dopa might possess advantages over conventional L-dopa preparations in the long-term management of Parkinson’s disease.

Decalcifying the pineal gland and treating the body wholistically is key but physiotherapy is a critical part of the therapy as well, alongside with lifestyle changes.

The lifestyle change we do not recommend? Starting to smoke, even though a large prospective study[8] published this year found that higher exhaled CO levels were associated with substantially lower Parkinson’s disease risk even in people who had never smoked. This suggests that low-level CO exposure may have a neuroprotective effect and could partly explain the long-observed inverse relationship between smoking and Parkinson’s disease. It is important to note though that smokers had substantially higher risks of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and death overall, so the study does not suggest that smoking is beneficial or that people should smoke to prevent Parkinson’s.

 

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References:

[1] Yoho, Robert. 2026.

[2] Beena, Menon S et al. 2026.

[3] Scher, Ann I. et al. 2014.

[4] American Academy of Neurology. Press Release. 2014.

[5] Jaimon, Ebsy et al. 2025.

[6] Sampson, Timothy R. et al. 2016.

[7] Katzenschlager, R. et al. 2004.

[8] Bueno Lopez, Clara et al. 2026.