Approximately one million Americans suffer with Parkinson's disease; a neurodegenerative disease caused by a steady depletion of nerve cells, particularly in the area of your brain referred to as the substantia nigra.

Related symptoms include slow movements, tremor when at rest, muscle rigidity, and abnormalities in your walk. It’s also linked with decreased levels of dopamine in your brain.

What Causes Parkinson’s?

A host of factors has been attributed to the onset of Parkinson’s, including:

• Environmental toxins and pesticides
• Petroleum-based hydrocarbon solvents, like paint and glue
• Excess iron in your body
• Aspartame
• Deficiencies in vitamin D and vitamin B folate
• Pasteurized milk 

As you can see, ALL of these are lifestyle-related, which is why making simple, healthy lifestyle changes can be so powerful. 

Healthy Living Tips to Avoid Parkinson’s

To reduce your risk of this disease, prevention really is your best route. Here's what can help:

• Exercise regularly. It’s one of the best ways to protect against the onset of symptoms of Parkinson's disease
• Get plenty of sunshine to optimize your vitamin D levels
• Avoid pesticide and insecticide exposure (as well as exposure to other environmental toxins like solvents)
• Eat more vegetables which are high in folic acid
• Make sure your body has healthy levels of iron and manganese (neither too much nor too little of either)
• Consider supplementing coenzyme Q10, which may help to fight the disease.

I hope you will use Michael J. Fox’s example as powerful motivation to start to Take Control of Your Health.

For more information about how you can protect yourself from Parkinson’s disease, and how you can deal with your disease without resorting to dangerous drugs if you’ve already been diagnosed, please review my related articles below.