[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<266> The Urgent Message of Parkinson's Disease

Neurodegenerative diseases refer to neurological disorders in which brain function deteriorates due to the abnormally rapid death of nerve cells. These include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Among neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson's disease is the second most common after Alzheimer's disease and has been steadily increasing recently, drawing growing public attention.

Parkinson's disease is a disorder in which nerve cells in the brain region that produces the neurotransmitter dopamine and controls movement are damaged or die, leading to reduced dopamine production and resulting in movement impairments. It was first reported in 1817 by British physician James Parkinson, who observed patients exhibiting symptoms such as hand tremors, muscle rigidity, gait abnormalities, and stooped posture. The disease is named after this physician.

When affected by Parkinson's disease, both motor and non-motor symptoms can appear. Motor symptoms include tremors occurring while sitting or lying down, muscle stiffness (rigidity), progressively slowed fine movements (bradykinesia), postural instability leading to falls, stooped and bent posture, and freezing of gait where the feet do not lift off the ground during walking. These symptoms typically start on one side of the body but eventually affect the opposite side as the disease progresses.

Major non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease include neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, apathy, and impulse control disorders; cognitive decline including visual hallucinations; autonomic nervous system abnormalities such as orthostatic hypotension, constipation, urinary dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, olfactory disturbances, and gastrointestinal motility issues; sleep disorders including insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, excessive daytime sleepiness, and restless legs syndrome; urinary symptoms like frequent urination; sensory abnormalities such as pain, numbness, fatigue, and decreased sense of smell. These non-motor symptoms can sometimes be more distressing to patients than the motor symptoms.

What message do Parkinson's disease symptoms convey to us? They are a plea to address the underlying problem in the nerve cells that control movement, not merely a request to alleviate symptoms while ignoring the root cause. If the problem in these nerve cells is left untreated, it will worsen and develop into a severe condition.

In South Korea, the number of people receiving medical care for Parkinson's disease has steadily increased from 106,000 in 2018 to about 126,000 in 2023, which is a significant number. Deaths due to Parkinson's disease rose rapidly from 569 in 2000 to maintain a level of 3,000 to 4,000 annually after 2015, surging to approximately 4,700 to 4,800 in 2022 and 2023.

Treatment for Parkinson's disease includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. Since Parkinson's disease causes movement disorders due to dopamine deficiency, supplementing the lacking dopamine with medication can improve motor symptoms. However, dopamine itself cannot cross the blood-brain barrier between blood vessels and brain tissue, so direct dopamine administration does not reach brain nerve cells. Therefore, treatment involves dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic drugs that promote dopamine effects. Non-pharmacological treatments include exercise therapy and surgical interventions.

But are current pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments effectively curing Parkinson's disease? According to the National Health Information Portal of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the drugs currently used for Parkinson's disease are intended to alleviate and control symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no definitive medication or treatment yet that can stop or slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.

The reason Parkinson's disease is not well cured by current treatments is that these therapies, including the drugs used, are designed to relieve and manage symptoms rather than halt or delay disease progression.

To prevent and cure Parkinson's disease, it is necessary to find ways to eliminate its causes. Modern medicine considers that nerve cell damage or death results from a complex interaction of environmental and genetic factors. However, treatment methods focus mainly on artificially increasing dopamine supply directly or indirectly or alleviating uncomfortable symptoms, limiting the effectiveness of therapies.

Like other cells, nerve cells contain about 6 billion DNA molecules, which make up approximately 20,000 genes. For nerve cells to function normally, these 20,000 genes must remain undamaged, and genes that need to be activated must be properly turned on when required.

According to scientific research, cells in our body can sustain damage to up to one million DNA molecules per day out of the 6 billion DNA molecules that make up a single cell. If these damaged DNA molecules are not repaired and remain damaged, the genes with damaged DNA cannot be activated and thus cannot perform their functions. Consequently, such cells lose their ability to function properly. Therefore, all damaged DNA in every cell must be identified and replaced with new DNA of the same type.

The process of repairing damaged DNA involves an omnipotent intelligence present in the form of genes within the cell, which activates the necessary genes when needed. The author refers to this omnipotent intelligence as the "best master prepared inside my body." When we maintain good lifestyle habits, DNA damage is minimized, and damaged DNA is well repaired. Conversely, poor lifestyle habits cause extensive DNA damage and hinder effective repair.

If DNA in cells is excessively damaged or if genes responsible for repairing damaged cells fail to function properly, resulting in many cells not being restored to their original state, we become susceptible to various diseases. The same applies to nerve cells. If we do not correct poor lifestyle habits that cause extensive DNA damage in nerve cells and interfere with DNA repair, nerve cell DNA will be heavily damaged, and repair will be inadequate, leading to various neurological diseases, including Parkinson's disease.

Understanding the cause of Parkinson's disease clarifies the path to overcoming it. We must correct poor lifestyle habits that interfere with the gene functions of nerve cells, creating an environment where the "best master inside my body" can enthusiastically activate the necessary genes in nerve cells when needed. This lifestyle approach is called Newstart (refer to Life Story Part 6).

Among the eight components of Newstart, the first is a life diet that involves eating a variety of plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, and grains, in their whole form without selective eating. Along with this, it is important to reduce the intake of sugar?which can cause many problems when consumed excessively?processed or refined bad carbohydrates, saturated fats, trans fats, salt, and alcohol. Additionally, practicing the remaining Newstart components?exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest, trust, and love?is also essential.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.