Zandu Zandopa For Parkinsons Disease
Know how to treat Parkinsons disease using Zandu Zandopa. This is excellent Ayurvedic medicine made from natural ingredients. Learn about directions to use, dosage and side effects of Zandu Zandopa.
Zandopa , is an Ayurvedic formulation from Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. Zandopa contains standardized processed seed powder of Mucuna pruriens in a flavored base.
It has anti-Parkinson activities and is used for the treatment of Parkinson. It is a natural product and its side-effects are mild and mainly gastrointestinal in nature.
It Protects From Side Effects Of Synthetic Levodopa
The major side effects associated with levodopa therapy is the development of drug induced dyskinesia on long term therapy and changes or delay in response caused by fluctuations of the drug concentrations in blood.
Copper is an essential agent for brain development, but the imbalance in copper levels has been associated with progression and development of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinsons.
A study in Phytotherapy Research,2007 demonstrates that Mucuna pruriens powder can protect from DNA damage in Parkinsons. It mediates this activity by removing excess copper ions and balancing copper levels.
Researchers from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine conducted an animal study to examine whether a water extract of Mucuna pruriens causes drug induced dyskinesia. The study revealed some interesting points:
It was observed a combination of Mucuna pruriens extract with benserazide led to significant reduction in Parkinsons symptoms at high and low dose.
In contrast, Mucuna pruriens without any add-on medication reduced Parkinsons significantly minus the drug induced dyskinesia.
Also, Mucuna pruriens extract without any additives reduced behavioural abnormalities and offered long term anti-Parkinsons effect without drug induced dyskinesia.
Mucuna pruriens offered more behavioural benefits than an equivalent dose of synthetic levodopa.
Why Are There No Frequent Major Problems
Mucuna is not a placebo but, rather, has important effects. However anyone can buy it without a prescription, and most are taking it without medical supervision. These patients are not sufficiently familiar with the properties of Mucuna they do not know the side effects or complications that may arise they do not take into account the interactions with other medications or the differences between individuals.
While this scenario suggests a public health issue, it fortunately does not usually cause serious problems. Why? I think that one reason is the safety of the components of Mucuna , which has been used for millennia in thousands or hundreds of thousands of patients in India without significant harmful effects. Another issue is that the products are sold often in small doses as a dietary supplement. That is not, however, always the case: there are some preparations with excessive doses especially when combined with carbidopa , dopamine agonists, or other antiparkinsonian drugs. It is necessary to use extreme caution.
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How Is It Treated And Is There A Cure
For now, Parkinsons disease is not curable, but there are multiple ways to manage its symptoms. The treatments can also vary from person to person, depending on their specific symptoms and how well certain treatments work. Medications are the primary way to treat this condition.
A secondary treatment option is a surgery to implant a device that will deliver a mild electrical current to part of your brain . There are also some experimental options, such as stem cell-based treatments, but their availability often varies, and many aren’t an option for people with Parkinsons disease.
Careful With Mistakes In Dosage
There is no proven effective dose for Mucuna . In clinical studies, some patients take 15 to 30 grams of Mucuna preparation orally for a week, but I discourage such quantities, which I consider too high.
Any medication should be administered initially in small amounts, keeping in mind the particular case of the patient and the purpose of the treatment. Doses of 15 and 30 grams of Mucuna seed extract were used for a specific experiment, with strict medical checkups, knowing well the formulation of the product and its origin and taking into account many other factors.
The researchers work under controlled conditions: they select patients without contraindications and remove any incompatible drugs and other medications that may alter the absorption or metabolism of levodopa, etc. That is not what happens when a patient buys Mucuna just anywhere and self-medicates with little information and without medical supervision.
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How Does This Condition Affect My Body
Parkinsons disease causes a specific area of your brain, the basal ganglia, to deteriorate. As this area deteriorates, you lose the abilities those areas once controlled. Researchers have uncovered that Parkinsons disease causes a major shift in your brain chemistry.
Under normal circumstances, your brain uses chemicals known as neurotransmitters to control how your brain cells communicate with each other. When you have Parkinsons disease, you dont have enough dopamine, one of the most important neurotransmitters.
When your brain sends activation signals that tell your muscles to move, it fine-tunes your movements using cells that require dopamine. Thats why lack of dopamine causes the slowed movements and tremors symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
As Parkinson’s disease progresses, the symptoms expand and intensify. Later stages of the disease often affect how your brain functions, causing dementia-like symptoms and depression.
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Improving The Performance Of Levodopa
Our bodies contain proteins that break down levodopa. This means, when levodopa enters the blood stream after been absorbed in the small intestine, much of the drug is deactivated before it even has the chance to get into the brain.
To counteract this, todays medications for Parkinsons combine levodopa with other drugs such as carbidopa and benserazide that block this break down, allowing more of the levodopa to get into the brain.
Levodopa was first combined with other drugs in the 1970s, and levodopa-carbidopa medications were made commercially available in 1975. Todays combination drugs mean lower doses of levodopa can be taken while still getting the same effect in the brain, which means fewer side effects and better symptom control.
But levodopa from Mucuna pruriens isnt combined with these levodopa enhancing drugs. So if you could take the same dose, less of the levodopa would get into the brain. And taking more to compensate for the break down would likely result in more side effects, such as nausea and constipation.
At the moment, there has been extremely limited research into the effectiveness and safety of Mucuna pruriens for people with Parkinsons. And on paper, it would seem that natural levodopa is unlikely to be as effective as, or replace, the medications that are already available. But could there be any benefits of natural levodopa?
Has Anyone Tried Mucuna Pruriens As A C/l Replacement
Some links may no longer work since Merck is shuffling stuff around and Sinimet is no where to be found.
Mucuna pruriens is a species of beans with a naturally high quantity of levodopa/L-dopa. Scholarly papers suggest that it does not promote dyskenisias as much as C-L and that besides levodopa it has other benefits for PD.
< h2> Mucuna Pruriens is not a replacement for carbidopa/levodopa, it only replaces levodopa, and with very poor precision. Carbidopa is very important for preventing peripheral breakdown of levodopa, before it ever gets to the brain. Inbrija inhaled levodopa has the same problem. Without carbidopa, you get all the nausea and less of the benefits of levodopa.< /h2>
I use Mucina Pruriens 800 Mg as a supplement to Sinemet CR. I also eat Fava beans as snack. These supplements are helpful without side-effects.
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Be Careful When Buying Mucuna
A consumer may purchase capsules of 200 mg of levodopa with a 15% concentration or 800 mg tablets with a 50% concentration, and these are two completely different products. Sometimes patients have bought the product on eBay knowing nothing of their provider, and they receive a package whose content is not guaranteed and whose concentration is not safe. The patient then will then dilute the material in water without knowing how much to measure out. Always use Mucuna extracts that are dispensed by known, reliable suppliers. In the final chapter, we give a brief description of some of these.
How Is It Diagnosed
Diagnosing Parkinson’s disease is mostly a clinical process, meaning it relies heavily on a healthcare provider examining your symptoms, asking you questions and reviewing your medical history. Some diagnostic and lab tests are possible, but these are usually needed to rule out other conditions or certain causes. However, most lab tests aren’t necessary unless you don’t respond to treatment for Parkinson’s disease, which can indicate you have another condition.
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Mucuna Pruriens Offers Neuroprotection Against Parkinsons Disease
Apart from being a natural source of Levodopa, Mucuna pruriens is a neuroprotective agent. By neuroprotection, it is meant that neurons are protected from cell death, oxidative stress, inflammation, etc.
A study in PLoS One, 2015 which evaluated 375 patients observed that the levels of C reactive protein in patients blood were predictive of symptoms and neurodegeneration in Parkinsons. C reactive protein is indicative of inflammation in the body.
Researchers concluded that systemic inflammation could accelerate neurodegeneration in Parkinsons.
Yadav et. al conducted an animal study to compare the neuroprotective efficacy of Mucuna pruriens with estrogen in Parkinsons disease. Estrogen is utilised as a neuroprotective agent in Parkinsons.
The study demonstrated that Mucuna pruriens ameliorated all the unwanted damage caused by Parkinsons to the neurons better than estrogen. It increased the recovery of neurons and the levels of dopamine.
It attenuated oxidative damage and neuroinflammation thus suggesting that it can be an effective neuroprotective agent in Parkinsons.
A study in PLoS One, 2014 confirms the neuroprotective effect of Mucuna pruriens in Parkinsons disease and attributes this effect to other components than L-dopa in velvet beans.
Manyam et.al highlight the other components in the velvet beans that contribute to its neuroprotective effect namely Nicotine adenine dinucleotide and coenzyme Q-10. These components are also proven to benefit in Parkinsons.
Is Mucuna A Psychedelic
Velvet magical beans do contain some tryptamine compounds, which are known psychedelics. Their concentration is probably very low in most available supplements, though. In some animal studies, mucuna had mild hallucinogenic and sedative activity.
Therefore, its theoretically possible but still unproven that mucuna beans might have mildly relaxing and psychedelic effects. Animal and clinical studies are needed to confirm this .
Some people report dreamy feelings from taking mucuna, but its unknown if mucuna actually has these properties, what its content of tryptamines and other psychoactive is, and what effects are possible, until more studies come out.
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The Latest Research About Mucuna Pruriens As A Treatment For Parkinsons
In 2004, a study was conducted comparing the efficacy of MP with the standard medication used in PD, carbidopa/levodopa . Eight patients were given one dose of a MP preparation or C/L in a blinded fashion and then tested four hours after ingestion. MP acted more quickly and lasted longer than C/L without worsening of dyskinesias. A 2017 study also compared various single dose preparations of MP vs. C/L given blindly and determined that MP had a quicker onset of action, lasted longer and caused fewer dyskinesias.
However, when MP was given for longer periods of time as opposed to in single doses, the results were not as positive. In 2018, a study was conducted in which 14 patients were given MP powder for eight weeks and then carbidopa/levodopa for eight weeks. Seven of the patients discontinued MP, four for gastro-intestinal side effects and three for worsening of motor symptoms.
For the seven who remained on treatment, efficacy of MP was the same as C/L. Nobody discontinued during the C/L phase. Although the study showed that MP can be effective in reducing PD symptoms, it drew attention to the need for additional research into the optimal MP formulation and dose to allow for greater tolerability when taken continually.
H3: The difference between mucuna pruriens and cabidopa levodopa
Price Should Not Matter At The Beginning
The price of mucuna, while not expensive, can be too much for some. That should be considered in the long-term as it could be in use for many months or years.
However, at first, the price does not matter much because the goal is to establish the dose for each patient. The main advice I give is to buy a product from a trusted brand and start with very low doses to be increased later. In this first stage the daily cost will be minimal because the doses are low and the tablets or capsules have low concentrations of levodopa.
The important thing is to know if you feel better with mucuna. At this stage you should not buy any foreign preparation from distant countries through unknown sellers on eBay. Later, when we find the dose that fits a particular patient, then we can ultimately plan a more affordable product once we make sure that it is trustworthy.
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Mucuna Mixed With Other Substances
Some theories assert that there are people with a relative nutritional deficiency or imbalance of certain precursor amino acids of dopamine and serotonin2, and that this causes or worsens Parkinsons disease, depression and other related disorders involving centrally acting monoamines.
In this vein, some have proposed mucuna combined with tyrosine, tryptophan and others to relieve this imbalance of amino acids. This theory, enthusiastically promoted by Dr. M. Hinz 3 recommends products that combine levodopa with tryptophan, tyrosine, cysteine and cofactors in order to recuperate the balance.
These treatments can be useful, and future studies are needed to expand on the effect of amino acids and other nutritional aspects of Parkinsons disease and their influence on the behavior of levodopa.
There is some progress in treatment from that angle, but it is not yet confirmed and results can be highly variable.
So far I do not recommend the combined preparations as some do, mixing tyrosine, green tea , lipoic acid, ginseng, ginkgo, etc. It will suffice to adjust the dosage of mucuna.
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Always seek the advice of your physician
What Tests Will Be Done To Diagnose This Condition
When healthcare providers suspect Parkinsons disease or need to rule out other conditions, various imaging and diagnostic tests are possible. These include:
- Blood tests .
- Positron emission tomography scan.
New lab tests are possible
Researchers have found possible ways to test for possible indicators or Parkinsons disease. Both of these new tests involve the alpha-synuclein protein but test for it in new, unusual ways. While these tests cant tell you what conditions you have because of misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins, that information can still help your provider make a diagnosis.
The two tests use the following methods.
- Spinal tap. One of these tests looks for misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins in cerebrospinal fluid, which is the fluid that surrounds your brain and spinal cord. This test involves a spinal tap , where a healthcare provider inserts a needle into your spinal canal to collect some cerebrospinal fluid for testing.
- Skin biopsy. Another possible test involves a biopsy of surface nerve tissue. A biopsy includes collecting a small sample of your skin, including the nerves in the skin. The samples come from a spot on your back and two spots on your leg. Analyzing the samples can help determine if your alpha-synuclein has a certain kind of malfunction that could increase the risk of developing Parkinsons disease.
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The Dosage Of Zandu Zandopa
Initially take lesser dosage and then gradually increase the dose to 7.5 grams at the interval of 3-4 hours.
This medicine should not be taken with milk. Take about 100 ml or half glass of water, suspend prescribed dose of powder, stir and drink immediately.
Patients finding difficulty in swallowing of the bulk may be advised to stir the powder in water for nearly one minute and strain. Clear solution thus obtained may be consumed by the patient.
Parkinsons Disease And Dot Certification
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