June 25 2002 - We received an email from Bernard concerning the improvement in his wife, May, since starting on Enada/NADH. Bernard wrote:

THE BACKGROUND:

Last Thursday my wife May, who has PD, had her 6-month check up with Dr. Timothy Lynch. As we were leaving he suggested that the history of May's  progress could be of interest to your group, because of her improvement - hence this email!
 
Both May and I are senior citizens, and have lived reasonably active lives, golf, some gardening, and bridge. On 13th-June-2001 May was diagnosed as having mild Parkinson's.

Bernard: "As they say, 'You pay your money and take your chances'. All I know is that both May and our golfing friend have improved since starting on Enada/NADH."

This was very depressing because, apart from anything else, her brother (a farmer) suffered with PD from the age of 26 and died when he was 67 years. In his later years he only had mobility for a short while each day.
 
Initially May was on Madopar and some other drug which I cannot recall just now. In Nov 2001 Dr Lynch examined and confirmed the original diagnosis and after discussions we decided to phase out the Madopar and take Mirapexin (0.7mg) three times per day and Eldepryl once per day.

OUR RESPONSE:

Naturally I was searching  the net for information on PD. One of the items which interested me was this NADH. Apparently a Professor Jorg Birkmayer MD had managed to stabilize this coenzyme in tablet form. He patented this method. What I read would suggest that NADH acts like a fuel for an engine and seems to stimulate the brain cells to produce more dopamine.

I also read a very favourable reference to this in a book by a Dr. Robert Atkins, "Dr. Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution", wherein he quotes various research results. I checked these the references as far as possible and we decided that it would be worth trying this NADH.

TRYING NADH:

In early March 2002 May began by taking four tablets @ 5 mg (total 20mg) half an hour before breakfast each morning. After a few weeks we reduced this to two tablets each morning, but now we have increased it back to three tablets @ 5 mg i.e. a total of 15.0 mg per day. The improvement in May has been remarkable.

She no longer complains of fatigue, her movements are much brisker, her face is more mobile, and she is much more cheerful and energetic.

Over the last few years her golf handicap had gone up and she was complaining of being exhausted after 14 holes. Now her swing has improved again, we have had three Top Three finishes in the four most recent club mixed foursomes, and actually we won one!
 
Another golfing friend of ours has had PD from age 55. He is now in his mid 60s. When I saw the effect of NADH on May I suggested to him to consider trying it. He did and his wife claims he is much improved, but as he said "I'm taking so many pills who knows what is working".

Just from looking at him I think he has improved. Previously his head had drooped much more than it is now.
 
We think the improvement is due to the NADH but Dr. Lynch said he would like to think it was the Eldepryl, but at the same time he suggested I write to you!

OUR THOUGHTS:

Personally I think it is worth trying this NADH - the cost is not too bad  - about 42 US dollars per month taking 15 mg per day, and a month's trial is time enough to have an effect. There are no recorded cases of any toxic reactions.

In his book, Dr. Atkins states that he found  the stabilised form of NADH marketed as Enada/NADH to be the only effective form when treating PD patients. This is what May takes.

In all fairness, I should mention that the website:
www.ucl.ac.uk/Pharmacology/quack. html  has  an article that is highly critical of "Birkmayer et alia" regarding their use of statistics when analysing the results of a trial using NADH in the treatment of CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME.

May is quite happy to publish her story if you think it would help other PDs (not the political PDs!).

TOP

We buy 4 bottles at a time from ProHealth.com through ImmuneSupport.com. Each bottle contains 60 tablets @ 5mg per tablet. Cost including airmail is 120.76 US dollars. i.e. 30.2 US dollars per 60 tab bottle. I checked the cost at Nutricentre, and for Enada/NADH the cost was approx. 46.0 US dollars, freight not included.

OUR READING:

There is an article on ImmuneResearch.com about NADH which we found quite helpful. Following are some quotations from this article:   

• "NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or Coenzyme 1) triggers energy production through ATP generation.
  
• George Birkmayer, M.D., Ph.D., ... was the first to discover the therapeutic application of NADH in cellular development and energy transmission."