I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s on my 36th birthday. Now I know the shocking cause… and I’ve found a radical fix

It started in Justin Neill’s left hand. 

His typing had started to slow, and he could feel his fingers dragging across the keyboard. 

He was only 35 at the time and with no other health problems, he brushed it off. 

‘I was just so busy with work. I was so busy with life. I was like, “Oh, it’s carpal tunnel, or it might be a pinched nerve,”‘ Justin, a tech operations manager who lives in Los Angeles, says. 

Next, it was a tight cramp that wrapped around his left foot. This time, he chalked it down to having just gone for a run. 

It wasn’t until his father pointed out the obvious – both cramps were on the left side of his body – that he felt the need to investigate. 

After consulting a chiropractor, acupuncturist and masseuse in search of answers, it was a neurologist who finally gave him the alarming truth – the day after his 36th birthday.

‘Three hours in, for the first time ever, I heard the word “Parkinson’s,”‘ Justin remembers. He’d undergone brain scans and blood work. 

‘Up until that time, I didn’t even know what Parkinson’s was. All I knew was it was something [the actor] Michael J. Fox had – old people and Michael J. Fox.’ 

It seemed implausible. 

He had been active his entire life, seen no other warning signs and, he thought, was simply too young to be diagnosed with such a debilitating condition. 

‘I was completely in denial and I was angry with my doctor. I tried to explain to her, “I’m healthy. I run every day. I go to the gym. I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink. What the hell?’ Justin, now 45, says. 

She told him he belonged to a group of young people who are baffling scientists. 

Known as early onset Parkinson’s patients, their diagnosis is largely unexplained; they aren’t yet old enough to belong to the condition’s typical demographic, and they show no other genetic explanation for their symptoms. 

Parkinson’s develops when cells in a small area of the brain –  the substantia nigra – begin to die. These cells produce dopamine, a chemical messenger that plays a crucial role in coordinating smooth, controlled movement. As dopamine levels fall, it gives rise to tremors, muscle stiffness and increasingly slow or difficult movement.

It’s not uncommon among older adults – the majority of patients are diagnosed after 60, and the number of Americans being diagnosed with Parkinson’s is ballooning every year. 

But the sudden rise in younger patients is alarming doctors and researchers. They increasingly suspect that, for at least some sufferers, the seeds of the disease may have been sown decades before the first sign of symptoms. 

While there is no single proven cause, mounting research has linked Parkinson’s to environmental hazards encountered in everyday life – including pesticides and air pollution.

Earlier this year, scientists at UCLA focused on chlorpyrifos – an insecticide used on crops, forests and grassy areas such as golf courses.

After analyzing pesticide exposure in 800 people with Parkinson’s and testing the chemical in zebrafish, which are widely used in medical research because they share around 70 percent of their genes with humans, they found chlorpyrifos was associated with a 2.5-fold increased risk of the disease. 

The study has already triggered at least one lawsuit against Dow Chemical Company and its agricultural spin-off, Corteva Agriscience. Neither has commented publicly on the new study. Historically, it defended use of the chemical under proper conditions. 

Another particularly striking study examined health records from around 18 million Americans. It found that people living within 500 feet of a dry-cleaner had a 14 percent higher risk of developing Parkinson’s than those living several miles away. 

The troubling part is that many of these exposures can be difficult to avoid – and the damage may begin years, or even decades, before the first tell-tale tremor or cramp appears.

Justin suspects that the root of his diagnosis may lie in a chemical spill in the creek behind his house while he was growing up. He says he knows of at least four people on his block who have also been diagnosed. 

After being diagnosed in 2017, he was immediately prescrribed carbidopa and levodopa, a combination of drugs that help the brain convert and replace missing dopamine. 

But the pills made him so nauseous, he couldn’t keep food down. 

He was then given a daily patch of Neupro, which delivers a dopamine agonist over the course of 24 hours. 

It eased his stiffness and tremors – but sparked a terrifying and unpredictable side effect; an out of control gambling habit. 

‘It was all I thought about. I’m a person who’s really good with my money, and I was gambling like 300 bucks a day for months. It’s just a dopamine hit over and over again,’ he said.

By constantly stimulating dopamine receptors, the drug has been shown to cause impulsive and compulsive behaviors like excessive spending, hypersexuality, binge eating and gambling. 

The manufacturers disclose as much on their website. 

‘Some patients using NEUPRO get urges to behave in a way that is unusual for them. Examples of this are unusual urges to gamble, strong urges to spend money, binge eating, or increased sexual urges and behaviors,’ a warning on its website reads.  

Doctors weaned him off the medication for several days, which quelled the gambling, but it left him without reliable medications to treat his symptoms. Without medication, he would be unable to work, exercise or get around his house. 

‘I couldn’t sleep at night. I just felt stuck. I couldn’t move my arms and legs. It was just two years of hell, just not knowing how I was going to get relief or if I was going to get relief.’

He had avoided support groups for fear of seeing first hand just how brutally his disease might progress. But in 2020, desperate for a solution, he sought help at a private clinic, recommended to him by other sufferers. 

He was prescribed a cocktail of medication (Rytary, Selegiline and Artane) that allowed him to regain movement in both of his hands, and, mercifully, sleep through the night. But during a work trip last year, he found himself practically paralyzed while he was trying to get dressed.

‘My body wouldn’t move… that’s around the time where I went to my doctor and said, “Okay, I think it’s time to look into alternative therapies.”‘

Earlier this year, Justin underwent deep brain stimulation, a type of brain surgery that involves placing thin wires called electrodes into the brain that are connected to a pacemaker-like implant near the collarbone or chest. 

The device then sends electrical signals that block the abnormal brain activity that causes Parkinson’s symptoms. 

‘I think most people are scared to get a surgery like that. I was not at all, I was excited. I just knew it was going to be better quality of life on the other side. I was excited to get my life back.’ 

Astonishingly, he was awake for much of the procedure.

Doctors adjusted the simulation in real time, asking him to repeat simple sentences and move his arms and legs to test its effectiveness. 

He saw immediate relief and, over the last year, has been able to dramatically reduce his medication intake from 22 pills a day to just a handful now. 

Today, he runs frequently and can bike up to 20 miles in one outing. Boxing has also dramatically reduced the remaining stiffness in his hands. 

Now, Justin is determined to share his experience with other young Parkinson’s patients.  

‘I want to be there for people who are newly diagnosed and don’t know where to go, where to turn,’ he said. 

‘I definitely want to get married. I definitely want to grow in my career. I love doing speaking engagements and helping people who have no one else to really turn to,’ he says.