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Parkinson Disease Support
Parkinson disease begins long before the tremor. Alongside your neurologist, we address gut, mitochondrial, toxic, and inflammatory contributors and keep the brain moving.
What you may be noticing
A hand that trembles at rest. Handwriting that grows smaller across the page. Steps that shorten, a voice that softens, a face that others read as tired. Many people notice quieter clues first: loss of smell, constipation, acting out dreams at night, low mood, or stiffness that feels like aging.
If you have new or progressing neurological symptoms, a neurologist must evaluate you. My work is comprehensive support alongside that care, never a replacement for it, and I never ask anyone to change or stop a prescribed medication.
Why it is rarely one thing
Parkinson disease is more than a dopamine shortage. The protein alpha-synuclein misfolds and accumulates, dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra lose energy, and inflammation follows. Current research describes a body-first pattern, in which changes may begin in the gut and autonomic nervous system years before movement symptoms, and a brain-first pattern, in which the order is reversed. This remains a hypothesis under active study, yet it widens the question from replacing dopamine to asking what is stressing these neurons and what can still be protected.
I think of it through what I call the toxic burden bucket. Pesticides, solvents such as trichloroethylene, and certain metals are associated with higher risk in population studies. Exposures accumulate across a lifetime, and when drainage and clearance cannot keep pace, the most energy-hungry neurons feel it first. That framing is a working clinical hypothesis, and it gives us practical levers.
Patterns we look for
- Mitochondrial function and oxidative stress in high-demand neurons.
- Gut motility, microbiome balance, and intestinal permeability along the gut-brain axis.
- Toxic burden from pesticides, solvents, metals, and water-damaged buildings.
- Neuroinflammation and microglial priming.
- Blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance.
- Vitamin D, B12, homocysteine, and methylation status.
- Autonomic balance: blood pressure on standing, sweating, digestion, and heart rate variability.
- Sleep quality and REM sleep behavior.
- Vestibular, cerebellar, and frontal function, which shape balance, gait, and fall risk.
How I evaluate it
A comprehensive functional neurological exam maps eye movements and saccades, balance, gait, rigidity, rapid alternating movements, cranial nerves, and autonomic responses from lying to standing. These measures track change over time and tell me which circuits to train.
Functional labs may include a comprehensive metabolic panel, fasting insulin and HbA1c, vitamin D, B12, homocysteine, inflammatory markers, comprehensive stool analysis, and toxic burden testing where your history points there. NeuroQuant volumetric MRI adds regional brain volume data when cognition is also changing. Your neurologist directs diagnostic imaging and every medication decision.
How we address it
Order matters. The body heals in a specific sequence, and each step prepares the next.
- Coordinate with your neurologist and care team from the start.
- Establish safety and rhythm: protected sleep, morning light, steady blood sugar, and calm autonomic tone.
- Open drainage pathways before any detoxification: regular bowel movements, hydration, and lymphatic movement. Constipation is common here, so this step comes early.
- Lower what flows into the bucket: water, food, and home exposures.
- Restore the gut: motility, microbiome balance, and barrier integrity.
- Support mitochondria and calm neuroinflammation with targeted nutrition and antioxidant categories.
- Train the brain every day: gait, balance, vestibular and eye movement work, rhythmic and large-amplitude movement, and aerobic exercise, which has strong evidence for preserving function. Short, frequent sessions stopped before fatigue build more than occasional long ones.
Movement is medicine for this brain. Every day you train it, you protect it.
Book your Comprehensive Functional Medicine Eval/Neurological Exam today to discover what the contributing root causes are that are underlying your health concerns.