Thiamine can reverse certain symptoms of Parkinson’s

Research from the University Studies Abroad Consortium in Italy has discovered that thiamine can be used to reverse both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The study, which was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, looked at the clinical, restorative, and neuroprotective effects of long-term thiamine treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

• The authors designed an observational open-label pilot study using an outpatient neurologic rehabilitation clinic.
• For the study, the team involved 50 patients with Parkinson’s disease. The patients had an average age of 70 years and had been living with the disease for at least seven years.
• Patients were assessed at baseline using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) prior to the trial.
• During the clinical trial, the participants were treated with 100 mg of thiamine, administered intramuscularly twice a week. The patients did not have any change in their personal therapy for the condition and were re-evaluated after one month, and every three months afterward.
• The findings revealed that patients exhibited significant improvement in both motor and non-motor symptoms after being treated with thiamine. In particular, UPDRS scores (parts I–IV) had markedly improved from 38.55 ± 15.24 to 18.16 ± 15.08 (p = 2.4 × 10?14, t-test for paired data) in just three months, and remained stable over time. In addition, motor UPDRS part III score improved from 22.01 ± 8.57 to 9.92 ± 8.66 (p = 3.1 × 10?22). Those with a milder phenotype, meanwhile, had a complete clinical recovery.

The researchers concluded that parenteral high-dose thiamine can effectively reverse Parkinson’s disease symptoms, with clinical improvements noted over time.

Learn more about Parkinson’s disease and other degenerative diseases at Brain.news.

Journal Reference:

Costantini A, Pala MI, Grossi E, Mondonico S, Cardelli LE, Jenner C, Proietti S, Colangeli M, Fancellu R. LONG-TERM TREATMENT WITH HIGH-DOSE THIAMINE IN PARKINSON DISEASE: AN OPEN-LABEL PILOT STUDY. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2015;21(12):740–747. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2014.0353