A Parkinson's Disease Interview With Researcher Lawrence Broxmeyer MD

When Lawrence Broxmeyer MD came out with his book Parkinson's - Another Look and a peer-reviewed article derived from this, there seemed to be a great deal of skepticism as to whether his theory that Parkinson's was caused by a bacteria was accurate. But time has only strengthened and not diminished this perceptions. In November of last year, when Web MD reported that researchers found that a common tuberculosis drug could help with Parkinson's Disease and perhaps even Alzheimer's, it was as Lawrence Broxmeyer MD had predicted. The following are excerpts from an interview with him:

Booksandauthors.net: What drug was that?

Lawrence Broxmeyer, MD: The drug was rifampicin. Although better known as a tuberculosis drug, rifampicin is also an effective treatment for leprosy, a disease related to TB. More than a decade ago, researchers discovered that leprosy patients on long-term rifampicin therapy had less dementia and senile plaques in their brains than untreated patients. That study led to intense research on how the drug might affect brain diseases in general.

Booksandauthors.net: How exactly does the drug work?

Lawrence Broxmeyer, MD: In the Parkinson's study it was noticed that a common brain protein, a type of amyloid called alpha-synclein gathers into fiber-like particles called fibrils that clog the brain. Rifampacin stops these fibrils from forming. Perhaps even more importantly fibrils already formed, unraveled. It was emphasized that clearly more work needs to be done. But there are strong implications here.

Booksandauthors.net: Such implications seem to lay along the lines of the tuberculosis-like germ you originally wrote about causing Parkinson's Disease and which subsequently appeared on Medline.

Lawrence Broxmeyer, MD: Yes. But the implications of these very same amyloid proteins which aggregate into disease causing fibers goes way, way beyond just Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and in the same November issue of Chemistry & Biology, an editorial noted similar processes going on in Mad Cow Disease and even in amyloid pancreatic changes in Type-2 diabetes.

Booksandauthors.net: In browsing thru your work on Medline and elsewhere I have come across similar thoughts.In the case of Mad Cow you have linked this and Creutzfeldt-Jakob to bovine tuberculosis. Fascinating article, but what ever happened to prions?

Lawrence Broxmeyer, MD: Nothing really, except in my opinion the concept needed an upgrade.

Broxmeyer's Parkinson's book and article were previously reviewed by Dr. Anil Aggrawal who called Broxmeyer: "one of the most original thinkers our era has seen." Although unmentioned in the interview, also supportive of Lawrence Broxmeyer MD was a study earlier this year by a Korean University, published in the Journal of Neurology. Here drinking a glass or two of milk was said to have raised the risk of Parkinson's disease in middle aged men. Pre-pasteurization milk was a major source of TB in man through bovine tuberculosis, and although present pasteurization has drastically reduced this risk, pasteurization is still not sterilization. This tied into Broxmeyer's work on bovine tuberculosis as causative to Mad Cow, Creutzfeldt-Jakob as well as Parkinson's [Thinking the unthinkable: Alzheimer's, Creutzfeldt–Jakob and Mad Cow disease: the age-related reemergence of virulent, foodborne, bovine tuberculosis Medical Hypotheses (2005) 64, 699–705. Elsevier Ltd].

Booksandauthors.net: Getting back to Parkinson's, what about stem cell research?

Lawrence Broxmeyer, M.D.: It is too early to make a definitive statement in that direction.

Booksandauthors.net: Nevertheless, what are your feelings?

Lawrence Broxmeyer, MD: Just keep in mind that stem cells are being used to replace areas already devastated by disease. We live in an age where science and medicine are encouraged to apply new technology towards older afflictions and thus the rush to surgical and stem-cell correction of Parkinson's. However, here as elsewhere, the roots of the present often lie deep and securely buried in the past. In Parkinson's - Another Look, the book and the article, I simply encourage scientist and laymen alike to take a moment out to uncover that past.

Downloading this interview and other cutting edge Medline articles by Lawrence Broxmeyer MD, as well as his on-going research, can be found by going to http://drbroxmeyer.netfirms.com/

Internist researcher Lawrence Broxmeyer, M.D.; previously on staff at
New York affiliate hospitals of Downstate, Cornell and N.Y.U has published numerous scientific articles which appear on Medline, including a recent study as lead researcher in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Booksandauthors.net is a 2004 Writer's Digest 101 Best Site.

Distribution: Med America Research, Lawrence Broxmeyer, Lawrence Broxmeyer MD, Dr. Lawrence Broxmeyer