I’ve been looking into this brown seaweed extract that researchers seem to have got quite excited about. It seems to have a really potent antioxidant that, in theory, can ‘mop up’ the alpha-synucleins in the brain. The research was triggered because there must have been some anecdotal evidence from people in Japan / Korea / China where the seaweed is commonly eaten. I have found a supplier for this but my wife who has been diagnosed for nearly 15 years is not keen on trying without very good evidence of efficacy and absence of interaction with other medications. Anyone looking into this?
Some of the latest information on this substance:
“ Unfortunately, results from studies on animal models and cells are not always translatable to humans. For example, despite the protective action of another antioxidant, vitamin C, found in cells and animal models to protect against Parkinson’s, it does not seem to have the same effect in humans.
This is because animal and cell models do not completely mimic Parkinson’s disease in humans. Animals have different brain structures and functions compared to humans, which means the way the disease develops and progresses can be different. On the other hand, cell models, even if researchers use human cells, lack complexity.
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This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.
Parkinson’s disease affects the entire brain and body, involving many different types of cells and interactions. Cell models usually focus on a single type of cell, missing out on this complexity.
Parkinson’s disease develops over many years, with symptoms changing over time. Cell and animal models cannot easily replicate this long-term progression. For example, the maximum lifespan of most laboratory mice is two years, whereas Parkinson’s is thought to develop over decades.
In conclusion, robust large-scale clinical trials are needed to validate the efficacy of Ecklonia cava in preventing or slowing down Parkinson’s. However, because Ecklonia cava is already available in food supplements, it probably does no harm to take it on a regular basis.
Will it prevent you from getting Parkinson’s? Maybe, but so does regular exercise.