The Parkinsons Pulse

04/06/2026

The more we investigate Parkinson’s disease as a systems disease, the harder it becomes to ignore the gut.

A fascinating new 2026 review, The Gut Microbiota in Parkinson’s Disease: Mechanistic Insights into Microbial-Host Interactions, highlights just how far this field has evolved.

We are no longer simply observing that the microbiome is different in Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers are now identifying specific microbial populations that appear altered, the metabolites they produce, and how they may influence intestinal barrier integrity, immune function, inflammation, mitochondrial health, neurotransmitter signalling and even levodopa metabolism. The authors also present an excellent table summarising microbial changes that have been consistently observed across Parkinson’s studies.

What emerges is a picture of extraordinary complexity. The gut is home to trillions of microorganisms capable of producing biologically active compounds that interact with virtually every major system in the body. Many of the microbial changes observed in Parkinson’s disease involve organisms associated with short-chain fatty acid production, fibre metabolism, immune regulation and maintenance of the intestinal barrier.

The conversation has shifted from asking whether the gut is involved to trying to understand precisely how microbial-host interactions may influence Parkinson’s disease over years and decades.

For me, this remains one of the most exciting frontiers in Parkinson’s research.

Source: Guerrero-Torres LE et al. The Gut Microbiota in Parkinson’s Disease: Mechanistic Insights into Microbial-Host Interactions. Microorganisms. 2026. Used under CC BY licence. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41900432/

04/06/2026

When most people think about antioxidants, they think about taking them in a supplement or perhaps eating some chocolate or increasing coffee.

But what if the body already has sophisticated systems designed to produce its own potent antioxidants?

One of the most fascinating pathways by which this can happen is called NRF2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2).

Rather than acting as an antioxidant itself, NRF2 functions like a biological defence switch, activating genes involved in antioxidant production, detoxification, inflammation regulation and cellular resilience.

This interesting in Parkinson’s disease because many of the processes thought to contribute to neurodegeneration are directly influenced by NRF2, including:

• oxidative stress
• neuroinflammation
• mitochondrial dysfunction
• toxin accumulation
• protein misfolding

Perhaps even more fascinating is that NRF2 can be influenced by lifestyle factors such as exercise, nutrition and other hormetic stressors that encourage the body to strengthen its own protective systems.

There is unlikely to be one single solution to PD……and as we move toward understanding this from a systems perspective, the opportunity may lie in stacking as many protective layers as possible and leveraging their combined effects over time. This is how The Parkinson’s Pulse operates.

Swipe through to learn more about one of the body’s most important cellular defence pathways.

29/05/2026

After attending the World Parkinson Congress 2026, one thing became very clear:

The conversation around Parkinson’s disease is changing.

For decades, Parkinson’s has largely been viewed through the lens of dopamine loss and alpha-synuclein pathology.

Those remain critically important.

But researchers are increasingly asking a broader question:

What influences the environment in which Parkinson’s disease develops and progresses?

Exercise continues to stand out as one of the most powerful interventions we have.

But another theme kept appearing throughout presentations, discussions and emerging research:

Nutrition matters.

Not simply because food provides energy.

But because food interacts with biology.

A recently published review explored how food and food-derived compounds may influence many of the systems now being investigated in Parkinson’s disease, including inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, gut health, immune regulation and metabolic health.

What’s particularly fascinating is that food contains far more than protein, fats and carbohydrates.

It also contains vitamins, minerals, fibre and thousands of bioactive compounds known as phytonutrients.

These compounds can interact with pathways involved in cellular defence, inflammation regulation and resilience.

In other words:

Food is not just fuel.

Food is information.

The future of Parkinson’s care extends well beyond supplemented dopamine.

It includes exercise.

It includes nutrition.

It includes sleep.

It includes metabolic health.

It includes the gut-brain axis.

And it includes understanding the factors that may contribute to unnecessary biological stress over a lifetime 👈

If these topics interest you, explore the growing collection of free articles and resources available at The Parkinson’s Pulse, share them with your friends, carers & care team.

Because awareness matters.

But understanding what may influence progression is where empowerment begins.



https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/15/3/514

26/05/2026

How Sport Can Rewire Recovery | Tanvi & Aarav Desai | TEDxMilton Keynes Youth
https://youtu.be/5CS2iGNaUk4

What a pleasure it was to meet these two young, dedicated and passionate leaders yesterday. Follow the link to their wonderful Ted talk, pick up a paddle and get those neuron’s firing!

26/05/2026

This is a great read! I would love to hear any other perspectives on this.

For so long, Parkinson’s disease has largely been viewed through the lens of dopamine loss alone.

But what if neurodegeneration is also shaped by decades of accumulated biological stress?

This paper explores the possibility that Parkinson’s may emerge through the cumulative interaction between:
• genetic vulnerability
• environmental exposures
• chronic immune activation
• metabolic dysfunction
• mitochondrial stress
• gut-brain axis disruption
• oxidative stress
• aging
• and declining resilience over time

One of the most fascinating concepts discussed is that alpha-synuclein — the protein heavily associated with Parkinson’s disease — may actually function as part of the innate immune response before becoming problematic when chronically activated.

In other words, systems initially designed to protect the body may slowly become dysregulated under persistent inflammatory pressure.

What happens when the body is exposed to years of:
• chronic inflammation
• gut dysfunction
• environmental toxicants
• poor metabolic health
• infections
• chronic stress
• and ongoing oxidative burden?

Could Parkinson’s disease, at least in part, reflect the long-term consequences of cumulative stress placed upon vulnerable biological systems?

This does NOT mean Parkinson’s is simply an infectious disease.
And it does NOT mean dopamine loss is unimportant.

But it may help explain why Parkinson’s appears far more complex than a dopamine deficiency.

Over the past 50 years, our exposome - the total accumulation of environmental, dietary, chemical and lifestyle exposures encountered across a lifetime - has changed dramatically.

At the same time, Parkinson’s incidence has risen substantially worldwide 🤔

While no single factor can fully explain this increase, it raises important questions about how modern environmental pressures may interact with aging biology and genetic susceptibility over decades.

I genuinely believe papers like this represent an important shift in how we think about neurodegeneration.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.3233/JPD-240195

14/05/2026

A 2026 review on dietary supplements in Parkinson’s disease concluded that no single supplement has yet been definitively proven to slow disease progression.

At first glance, that may sound discouraging.
But the broader message is actually quite encouraging.

The review highlighted several promising interventions, including omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and nicotinamide riboside, all of which target key biological pathways involved in Parkinson’s disease such as inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and gut health.

These are the same upstream systems that we focus on at The Parkinson’s Pulse.

It is also important to understand that the absence of large clinical trials does not mean that other nutritional compounds or herbal medicines are ineffective. Many interventions used in integrative practice, have strong mechanistic rationale and encouraging early research, even if large Parkinson’s-specific trials are still lacking.

Most importantly, supplements are only one piece of the puzzle.

The greatest leverage often comes from addressing the foundations:

• An anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet
• Regular exercise
• Restorative sleep
• Optimising gut health
• Managing blood sugar
• Reducing environmental toxicant exposures
• Meditation, breathwork, and nervous system regulation
• Cultivating emotional wellbeing and social connection
• Personalising medication timing and nutritional support

Practices that promote a state of physiological coherence like mindfulness, slow breathing, prayer, and meditation all may help shift the body out of chronic stress and support better autonomic function, sleep, and quality of life.

Parkinson’s disease is not shaped by dopamine alone. It is influenced by many interconnected biological systems, and many of those systems are modifiable.

There is no magic silver bullet.

But by consistently improving the terrain in which Parkinson’s unfolds, we may create meaningful opportunities to improve daily function, resilience, and long-term quality of life.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1877718X261446386

21/04/2026

New large-scale research adds weight to something many of us have suspected for a long time: the gut matters in Parkinson’s disease.

A machine learning meta-analysis combining 22 studies, 11 countries, and 4,489 samples found consistent microbiome differences in people living with Parkinson’s. Many beneficial bacteria linked to short-chain fatty acid production (such as butyrate) were reduced, while other microbial functions related to inflammation, barrier health, and chemical processing were altered.

One especially interesting finding was that microbial pathways involved in processing solvents and pesticides were found at higher levels in Parkinson’s cohorts. This does not prove cause and effect, but it adds another layer to the growing conversation around environmental exposures, gut health, and the gut-brain axis.

What does this mean in practice?

Not that there is a magic probiotic cure.
Not that Parkinson’s starts only in the gut.
Not that one stool test has all the answers.

But it does strengthen the case for supporting the terrain:

fibre diversity
bowel regularity
metabolic health
anti-inflammatory lifestyle patterns
reduced toxic burden where practical
personalised care

Parkinson’s is complex.

It must also include the systems that influence resilience and long-term health.

14/04/2026

New research worth sharing: Head trauma, inflammation & Parkinson’s risk

This review explores Post-Traumatic Parkinsonism (PTP), where Parkinson-like symptoms can develop after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), sometimes months or years later.

What makes this paper so important is the mechanistic overlap it highlights between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease. After head trauma, we can see processes such as chronic neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, dopamine pathway injury, and abnormal alpha-synuclein accumulation. This may sound familiar as they are all pathways highly relevant to Parkinson’s biology.

One statistic that stood out to me: researchers found evidence of activated microglia (the brain’s immune cells) up to 17 years after a traumatic brain injury.
This really matters. Because for some people, a head injury may not be just a short-term event, it may trigger biological cascades that continue long after the original impact.

This doesn’t mean every concussion leads to Parkinson’s. But it does reinforce why prevention, proper recovery, and long-term brain health support matters.
Parkinson’s is rarely about one single cause. It’s about understanding the many drivers that shape brain health over time.

What I find especially interesting is how the authors finish the paper — calling for more personalised, preventive, pharmacological, surgical and rehabilitation approaches.

To me, that’s where the conversation gets exciting. If chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic dysfunction and network-level injury are part of the picture, then it makes sense to explore broader strategies that support brain recovery and resilience alongside standard care.

That could include everything from rehabilitation and exercise through to nutrition, metabolic health, sleep, and reducing inflammatory load.

We need more research here, but this is exactly why a wider lens matters.

10/04/2026

Parkinson’s Awareness Month

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month.
And April 11 marks World Parkinson’s Day.

Right now, over 200,000 Australians are living with Parkinson’s. Globally, that number exceeds 10 million, and continues a steady rise.

Parkinson’s disease is now considered the fastest growing neurological condition in the world.

Parkinson’s is often reduced to tremor, stiffness, and slow movement. But in reality, it is far more complex. It can affect mood, cognition, sleep, digestion, and energy; with this list being far from exhaustive.
Often, the symptoms you don’t see are the ones that impact people the most.

People living with Parkinson’s are often defined by this single diagnosis.

But they are whole individuals……..with their own stories, challenges, and have people around them who love and care for them deeply.

Parkinson’s is not just something to manage.

We need to start recognising that there are modifiable drivers that matter.
And that improving health span matters too.

Awareness matters.

But if it’s going to mean something,
it has to move beyond recognition…
and toward a deeper understanding of the condition,
and the ways we may be able to influence how it is experienced over time.

31/03/2026

Don’t be misled — the paraquat fight is far from over.

While Syngenta has announced it will stop producing paraquat, this decision was driven by market competition—not safety concerns. The chemical itself is still widely available, with hundreds of other manufacturers continuing production.

In Australia, paraquat remains in use and is still under review by the Australian Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority, with a final decision expected in 2026. Until a formal ban is implemented, exposure risk remains for farmers, workers, and nearby communities.

This matters because the science continues to build.

A study from the National Institutes of Health found that workers exposed to paraquat are 2.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, and research published in 2024 shows that even living near sprayed areas is associated with increased risk.

And yet, despite this, meaningful regulatory action continues to be delayed.

Globally, the direction is clear:

70+ countries have already banned paraquat, including across the EU.
Even countries that manufacture it do not allow its domestic use!!

Meanwhile:

Research continues to link paraquat exposure with increased Parkinson’s disease risk
Legal action is ongoing, with thousands of cases being settled internationally

This isn’t over. Production changes don’t equal protection. Only a full regulatory ban will.

Please take a moment to follow this link and sign the petition:
Sign the petition to ban paraquat in Australia

Ban the use of Paraquat in Australia