Csilla Veress ND, Dipl. OM, is primary care doctor at TrueNorth Health Center, in Santa Rosa, CA. Dr. Veress is a graduate from Rutgers University with a degree in Biology, and obtained her medical degree from Bastyr University, where she also finished her masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The focus of her practice and outreach is to educate and inspire individuals to achieve optimal health, through nutrition and lifestyle medicine.
She has a regular lecture series at TrueNorth Health Center and does outreach to the community on the impact of whole food, plant-based nutrition, water fasting and lifestyle modification in preventing and treating chronic illness. She is a contributing writer for NPLEX, helping elevate excellence within the ND board examinations. She is an author of the sleep module component of the lifestyle Medicine Core curriculum offered by The American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Veress has written several articles for Health Science Magazine, and her work has been featured on a Netflix documentary. She has been a contributing expert in various summits and podcasts, discussing the importance of plant based nutrition, fasting, sleep, stress management, and lifestyle hacking for optimal health.
In his second book, “Parkinson’s Empowerment Training” author Karl Sterling goes deep into exploring many areas that will help the person with PD to manage symptoms and improve quality of movement, cognition, memory, and life. Topics include:
* the power of hope, empowerment, and belief
* how to maximize neuroplasticity
* sleep management
* benefits of using Power Plate and whole body vibration
* learn about the many roles of dopamine
* improve memory and cognition
* “Nutrition in Parkinson’s Disease” written by dietitian, Cynthia Lopez
Who was the first person to succeed in reversing all symptoms of their Parkinson’s disease? We obviously cannot know for sure, but naturopath doctor John Coleman, ND, was one of the first – if not the first to reverse his own Parkinson’s symptoms during the mid 1990’s. What is the story behind John Coleman’s recovery? How in the world did he figure out how to heal his neurological symptoms when no one else had succeeded before him?  What therapies helped his recovery? Which ones did not? John answers these and other questions during this remarkable interview with him.
This interview with John Coleman ND was originally aired on Parkinsons Recovery Radio in 2010. You will be surprised at his revelations about what made the most difference to the success of his recovery in this interview. John is the author of Stop Parkin’ and Start Livin‘.
John Rollins PhD discusses the critical role that is played by Apoptosis and why it has a critical influence on nervous system health. Apoptosis is the body’s natural process for repairing, regenerating and destroying damaged cells.
He discusses his longtime relationship with Dr. Bill McAnalley who was a recent guest on Parkinsons Recovery Radio and founder of Aroga.
Dr. Rollins explains how Aroga products and in particular the Core Pathways, Brain and Nerve Plus and Aloe 1 support and nurture neural tissue health.
Click the arrow below to hear my interview with Bill McAnalley PhD who discusses why food can fix things that drugs cant. His discussion focuses on explaining the causes of Parkinson’s and the right foods to treat each cause.
Information about Dr. McAnballey’s company, is accessed by visiting  Aroga
Below are the talking points that Dr. McAnalley prepared for my interview with him on Parkinsons Recovery Radio where he explains why food can fix things drugs cant Â
Parkinson’s disease (PD), characterized with bradykinesia, static tremor, rigidity and disturbances in balance, is the second most common neuro-degenerative disorder. Alzheimer disease is first.
With the global trends in aging, the incidence of PD has increased year by year and the prevalence rate is up to 1–2% among the elderly over the age of 65 years. So far, there is still no exact cure for PD due to its diversity of etiology and complexity of symptoms.
Currently, Parkinson’s disease is treated with Levodopa and maybe Monamine, Oxidase Inhibitors (MOAs) or Acetylcholine inhibitors. Levodopa makes more Dopamine available for the dopamine receptor, MOAs increase the amount norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin at their prospective receptors and acetylcholine inhibitors make more acetylcholine available to its receptor.
None of which address the physical cause of the disease.
The cause of PD has not been completely elucidated, but it has been generally acknowledged that the improvement of oxidative stress is one of the most important patho-physiological mechanisms.
Dr. Bill’s research has focused on stopping the causes of diseases like Parkinson’s by:
The inhibition of oxidative stress:
PD patients are in a state of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is caused by the increase of free radicals in the organism, while the ability to eliminate free radicals is decreased at the same time. A large amount of lipid peroxide, such as Malondialdehyde (MDA), hydroxyl, carbonyl, etc., will cause cell death, which leads to neuronal apoptosis ultimately.
The mitochondria is the “power plant†and “energy conversion station†of cells. It also regulates the process of gene expression and apoptosis. Recent reports have suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction is closely related to a variety of neuro-degenerative diseases including PD.
The reduction of toxic Excitatory Amino Acids (EAA):Â
Glutamate (Glu), Also, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and enkephalin can can produce excitotoxicity effects on nerve cells. Glutamate creates an excitatory effect on nerve cells, and is toxic when Dopa Amine neurons are fully or partially degenerated.
The inhibition of neuroinflammation:
Neuroinflammation is a common and important pathological mechanism in nervous system diseases and different neurological diseases are involved in neuroinflammation at some stage. At present, it is believed that neuroinflammation was involved in an important cascade reaction in neuronal degeneration of PD.
When the central nervous system suffers from exogenous antigens stimulus, such as pathogenic microorganisms or foreign bodies, microglia will be rapidly activated. Then, the activated microglia cells can secrete various cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ, etc. The cytokines cause neuroinflammation.
The inhibition of neuronal apoptosis:
Parkinson’s is caused by the premature death of dopaminergic neurons by abnormal apoptosis activation. Energy for normal activities of brain cells comes directly from aerobic energy, and there is little energy storage. However once brain damage occurs, it will cause nerve cell apoptosis or death.
The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulate apoptosis. It is divided into two categories: anti-apoptosis gene (such as Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bcl-w, Bcl-1, etc.) and pro-apoptosis gene (such as Bax, Bak, Bad, Bid, etc.). Their ratio regulates apoptosis.
The inhibition of abnormal protein aggregation:
Misfolded and aggregated proteins play a key role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease. Protein aggregates differ from disease to disease. This common characteristic shows that protein deposition is toxic to neurons.
Studies confirmed that the activity of the proteasome dropped substantially in substantia nigra of patients with PD, which weakened the ability of the substantia nigra to degrade α-syn and other proteins.
Targeting Nrf2 to Suppress Ferroptosis and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Neurodegeneration:
Nrf2 is a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) protein that regulates the expression of antioxidant proteins that protect against oxidative damage triggered by injury and inflammation. Several drugs that stimulate the NFE2L2 pathway are being studied for treatment of diseases that are caused by oxidative stress.
Listing of Core Food Ingredients that Address the Structure and Functional Causes of the Disease
The inhibition of oxidative stress:
Brahmi, Bacopa monnieri
Maca root powder, Lepidium meyenii (Walp.)
Tongkat Ali (Longjack), Eurycoma Longifolia
Turmeric root powder, Curcuma longa
The reduction of toxic Excitatory Amino Acids EAA:
Brahmi, Bacopa monnieri
The inhibition of neuroinflammation:
Turmeric root powder, Curcuma longa
Wild Yam root, Dioscorea villosa
The inhibition of neuronal apoptosis:
Noni Fruit, Morinda citrifolia
The inhibition of abnormal protein aggregation:
Amia powder, Emblica officinalis
Turmeric root powder, Curcuma longa
Targeting Nrf2 to Suppress Ferroptosis and
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Neurodegeneration.
Chaga Mushroom, Inonotus Obliquus
Milk Thistle Seed Extract, Silybum marianum.
Tongkat Ali (Longjack), Eurycoma Longifolia
Aroga
Dr. Bill offered suggestions on the products he recommended for persons diagnosed with Parkinson’s. He recommended three
Aroga products: (1) the Core (2) the Plus Brain and Nerve and (3) the Bone, Joint and Endocrine (which supports hormones). At a minimum. the Core would take top priority.
Information about these products and the opportunity to order is available at:
Dr. Jennifer Kessman MD discusses how to heal from disease. Functional Medicine has been around for a number of years and began with Dr. Jeffery Bland’s motivation to look at medicine in a different way. Now the field of Functional
Medicine is ever expanding and a center at the Cleveland Clinic has opened its doors for care. It is becoming more widely accepted and parts of functional medicine have been integrated into a wide variety of disciplines in medicine.
Here is a list of questions she answered during my interview with her:
1. What is Functional Medicine?
2. How did you come to get involved in Functional Medicine?
3. What are the root causes of disease?
4. So, if inflammation is the basis of disease how does functional medicine help with inflammation?
5. Tell me about your experience with Environmental Medicine?
6. Dr. Dale Bredesen and others have found ways to reverse early brain dysfunction and reverse dementia. How are they doing this?
7. Do you think this can apply to Parkinson’s?
8. The immune system is a big actor in most diseases we know- how can we calm our immune system?
9. What has been your experience with environmental impact of electromagnetic fields and brain dysfunction?
10. What is the influence of stress on disease?
Since appearing on this show last fall, Dr. Hageseth has consulted with scores of what he calls Parkinson’s People (PPs). PPs consist of Person’s with Parkinson’s (PwPs), caregivers, interested family and many different professionals.
Overall PPs are dissatisfied with allopathic medicine, but dissatisfied or not, many take medications with considerable benefit. The majority feel their neurologists do not take enough time with them or discuss other options with them.
The Internet abounds with alternative approaches, but sadly, most offer little data or studies to support their claims. I have interviewed several PPs who tried different treatments but with no success.
Holistic medicine should have a ‘W’ at the start of the word. Allopathic medicine helps, but it has its difficulties. I envision Wholistic medicine to include allopathic medicine and a healthy dose of Alternative Medicine as well.
The following quotes sum up my approach to PD
Don’t battle PD . . . challenge it – better yet, dance with it.
Do not resign yourself to PD, accept it and get on with your life.
Only you can engage your BodyMind to bring about self-directed neuroplastic change that will rewire your brain.
BUT it’s not up to your neurologist, IT’S UP TO YOU!
The limbic system is a complex set of structures in the mid brain that includes the hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala and cingulate cortex.It has been described as the “feeling and reacting brainâ€. It is responsible for the formation of memories and is constantly determining our level of safety. The Limbic System assigns emotional significance to everything we smell, see, hear, feel, and taste. It is known as the seat of social and emotional intelligence and is the brain’s anxiety “switchâ€. It is closely integrated with the immune system, the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system.
When not functioning properly due to injury or impairment, the limbic system becomes hypersensitive and begins to react to stimuli that it would usually disregard as not representing a danger to the body. This results in inappropriate activation of the immune, endocrine and autonomic nervous systems that can lead to varied and seemingly unconnected symptoms.
My guest is Annie Hopper who is the founder of the Dynamic Neural Retraining System and author of the book Wired for Healing. The focus of the program is to effectively teach participants how to self-direct neuroplastic changes in the limbic system that normalize threat mechanisms in the brain.  This allows the brain and body to move out of a state of survival and into a state of growth and repair, where healing can take place.
Most people choose to suppress the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease with medications or supplements. And why not? If you can begin to feel “normal”, you can begin leading a “normal” life.
Michael Lavery, Author of Whole Brain Power
There is another way. Just ask Michael Lavery, author of Whole Brain Power: The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body. Â Michael has invented fascinating and innovative ways to increase and enhance the integrity and functionality of your brain. You read my last sentence correctly.
You can get a lot smarter!
Your memory and recall can improve significantly!
Your handwriting can improve!
Your can become more focused!
You can lift depression!Â
You can reclaim your life force!
All of this is possible, Michael explains, when you start a program to “exercise” your brain in ways you never before even imagined. IÂ like his approach because it puts you in the driver’s seat of your recovery and puts medicines or supplements in the back seat.
Joining Michael in my interview with him is Len Fox who discusses his own experience with taking Michael’s Whole Brain Power program seriously.
Did you know that most people have cells that come from their mothers and, if you are a woman, from your children? Are these foreign cells friendly to the body? Can they help heal Parkinson’s? Do they promote regeneration of damaged tissue? Or, do they obstruct the healing process?
Dr. Lee Nelson researches these issues with a specific focus on rheumatism and arthritis. She is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington who was interviewed by Nancy Welch, author of Meditation Medicine: Illness, Body, Mind and Breath and myself.
Dr. Nelson also talks about the profound impact meditation has had on her research and on her life. This is a fascinating discussion on chronic illness and suffering you will not want to miss.
