Balancing Dopaminotrophic Neurotransmitter Levels

For more background information on me,
Click on Archive(s); then Click on my article :
My Testimonial; Living with Parkinson's Disease

None of my neurologists have ever tested for and/or measured ANY of my nervous system neurotransmitter levels; dopamine included, as doctors seem to do routinely for other ailments like depression or for psychiatric / hyperactive patients.

Both sides of my family history (going back several generations), revels no one with PD, but it's been documented that both my maternal grandmother and her husband were both hospitalized with nervous breakdowns; specifically severe depression.

Around 1944, my maternal grandfather officially "disappeared" early. My Mom reveals the story that the only clue as to what happened to him is a tiny news clipping from an undisclosed newspaper stating that around six months prior to his 'permanent disappearance'; he was found in a nearby hospital after having been missing for a while and that it appeared that he had been suffering from a nervous breakdown.

My maternal grandmother (at the age of 45-ish) about 15 years later, eventually killed herself by jumping off of a five-story tenement building in Southeast Queens, New York City. She had been hospitalized a number of times for severe depression in Creed More State Mental Hospital, in Queens, New York prior to her suicide.

Her daughter, my mother, also suffers from depression and has been under a psychiatrists care her whole life and is always medicated to prevent severe depression. When I was small I swore I’d never be like them. So I got PD instead, which I truly believe is the depression problem coming out in another form. I’ve always thought my PD was a form of the very same imbalances in neurotransmitters; IE. serotonin, dopamine levels, etc. as in my mother and both of my maternal grandparents' psychiatric problems.
But no one ever discusses these similarities. Has any research been done linking these various neurotransmitter levels?

I recently heard on a WBAI radio program hosted by a Doctor who's guest was another Doctor. They were discussing neurotransmitter status & hormones and how the guest doctor has developed a urine test to determine serotonin, dopamine, and histamine levels and how the findings of this urine test helps to administer positive results to their psychiatric / hyperactive patients by adjusting their diet and meds accordingly.. . . this fascinated me.
Why does it seem that neurologists assume that PD is only caused by the lack of dopamine production by certain nerve cells and not an imbalance of the serotonin, dopamine, histamine and hormonal levels resulting in a dopaminotrophic malfunction? As I listened to the two doctors discussing how vital these levels are to the normal functioning of a healthy being; deep in my gut, I couldn’t help wondering about my theory that my PD is directly related to ALL of these dopaminotrophic neurotransmitter levels.

Another clue that dopaminotrophic neurotransmitter levels must be properly balanced in regards to my controlling my PD became evident when the two doctors discussed diet, and how important protein is as a precursor to serotonin production in the human body.

I’ve always craved protein, especially when I was pregnant, both times with my two daughters. In my cursory research I've learned that the building blocks for almost all hormones is either protein or

I can’t seem to find any research investigating or disproving any of my hunches/hypothisis which states:

The balancing of human [dopaminotrophic] neurotransmitter levels (serotonin, dopamine, Adrenalin, histamine, gamma aminobutryic acid, acetylcholine, noradrenaline, glycine, neuromodulators, and the various other hormone levels) that"mix in the blood stream" to regulate/sustain human life is a key factor in finding a 'cure" as it pertains to PD.
I wrote to the radio host doctor. Here is/was his response:

This Doctor wrote:> Greetings Ms Dejongh,> > I wish I had time to thoroughly respond to your E-mail.> For research articles I would suggest you call the> Neuroscience people. I am sure they can give you> some leads on the articles. Dopamine is a> neurotransmitter.> The question is whether the part of the brain that> produces dopamine, the substantia nigra, is still> intact.(eaarly MRI's I had revealed no indication of damage in that region) If its not you have true Parkinson's> disease. If it is, meaning an MRI is negative for lesions in> this area of your brain, then you just have a> Parkinson's like illness. Dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline constitute a> class of compounds called catecholamines. They are> usually made in this order. L phenylalanine and L> tyrosine are amino acids that are precursors to the> production of dopamine with other chemical reactions> leading to the production of noradrenaline and> adrenaline. Depression can involve any of these> neurotransmitters as well as serotonin and any> number of vitamin and other nutrient deficiencies. To> really see if there is a relationship between your> Parkinson's disease and the depression experienced> in your family it might be interesting to see what> shows up on the urine neurotransmitter test. > > All the best,> Doctor, MD

I was unable to follow up on this and regretfully I must admit my neurotransmitter levels were never tested.

I'd be very interested in opinions about PD and my hypothesis of adjusting my neurotransmitters' levels? I'd love to research this futher but how. How could I find a Biology student who might be interested in making this the core subject of their Ph.D study and/or some research laboratory/company interested in the same?
Peace & Blessings,
Monique deJongh