Natural Compound in Essential Oils May Benefit Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s disease is one of very few
common health conditions scientists still don’t know how to treat.
Existing Parkinson’s medication only helps the brain compensate for the
nerve loss brought about by the disease, but it cannot stop or prevent
the actual brain cells from dying off. Meanwhile, Parkinson’s remains
the most rapidly expanding neurological disease in the world, with over
10 million people suffering from it worldwide. So saying that there is
an urgent need for an effective Parkinson’s treatment is a massive
understatement.
A research collaboration between the Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and the
Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Suwon, South Korea found a
potential for such a treatment in nature. A plant-based compound called
farnesol may be capable of doing something no existing Parkinson’s
medication can - prevent the nerves affected by Parkinson’s disease from
perishing.
Neuronal loss and Parkinson’s disease
In order to understand how this natural
compound works, we need to explain a bit about the neurology behind
Parkinson’s disease. As you may or may not know, Parkinson’s disease
targets a specific brain region called the substantia nigra, which is
populated by neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine.
As the disease progresses, more and more of
these dopamine-producing brain cells perish, which manifests itself in
worsening tremors, cognitive decline, muscle stiffness, and loss of
balance and coordination. These are all hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's
disease.
Farnesol is a natural compound capable of
reducing nerve loss
Current treatments can replenish the dopamine in the brain and improve
general brain function, which alleviates some of the symptoms, but no
existing medication is able to treat the cause - the nerve cell loss
itself. This is where farnesol may be helpful. This compound is
naturally present in many plants, and it is commonly found in certain
essential oils (lemongrass, citronella, and balsam essential oil) and
even in perfume.
The research found that this compound can
prevent nerve loss by engaging the brain’s natural protective mechanisms
on a molecular level. To be technical, taking farnesol orally boosted
the production of a protein called PGC-1 alpha that protects brain cells
from damage and death.
Currently, the effectiveness of farnesol was only tested in Parkinson’s
models in mice, but the results are highly promising. The researchers
used farnesol as a supplement because it has to be taken internally and
cross the blood-brain barrier to work. Since taking essential oils or
perfume internally is toxic, they had to extract farnesol in order to
make it safe for the subjects. After supplementing the diet of mice with
farnesol for just a week, they saw a marked improvement in strength and
coordination, and subsequent tests revealed that the mice treated with
farnesol had double the amount of healthy dopamine neurons than mice
that received no treatment.
Researchers are yet to ascertain the efficacy of farnesol in humans, but
this natural compound could very much be the key to a revolutionary new
treatment of Parkinson’s disease.