The Secret Life of Parkinson's: #117: Body Temperature and its potential effect on Parkinson's

As we move into fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about the changing seasons and all of the little things that change along with them. 

In a recent interview, Chris Wark spoke with Martha Carlin—author of Connected: Love Loss and the Unseen Forces Behind Chronic Disease, microbiome researcher, and founder of BiotiQuest—about her 24-year journey investigating the root causes of neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases.

At the end of August, I flew from Kentucky to Australia for three weeks. By the time I arrived in Canberra, I had crossed the International Date Line, lost an entire day, and completely flipped my normal schedule. I did what I could to prepare. I fasted before the flight, took my Simple Slumber and another herbal sleep supplement, and managed to get some sleep on the overnight flight. Even so, I arrived expecting my body to have absolutely no idea what time it was. What surprised me was how quickly it began to figure it out.

Behind closed eyes, the brain is carrying out a carefully coordinated night shift. And research into the microbiome raises an intriguing question: how might the activity in our gut influence the sleep that gives this work its opportunity?