"Where Life Meets Parkinson's." A blog for Parkinson's education, research advances, treatment strategies, and personal reflection. The goal is to provide support and resources to anyone either with Parkinson's disease or with any neurodegenerative disorder.
"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." Albert Einstein "To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." Marilyn vos Savant Introduction: I have used withering grapes on a grape vine to depict dopaminergic cells in Parkinson's disease. It is generally thought that a substantial amount of dopaminergic cells …
"We make our way through everything like thread passing through fabric, giving shape to images that we ourselves do not know." Rainer Maria Rilke "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angelou Prelude: Do you remember the Moody Blues? Did you ever listen to their music? An interesting, …
Continue reading "Parkinson’s and Dopamine: Remembering “Days of Future Passed” by the Moody Blues"
"Myths are made for the imagination to breath life into them." Albert Camus "The trouble with the world is not that people know too little; it's that they know so many things that just aren't so." Mark Twain Introduction: Parkinson's continues to expand in numbers of people worldwide and firmly stands as the second most …
Continue reading "Fifteen Additional Myths and Common Misconceptions About Parkinson’s"
"The only living works are those which have drained much of the author's own life into them." Samuel Butler "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." Daniel J. Boorstin Introduction: Listed below are 20 topics related to Parkinson's that I will likely write a blog post on …
Continue reading "Journey With Parkinson’s: Some Future Blog Topics and A Personal Science Story"
"Be the kind of person who takes supplements - then skip the supplements." Michael Pollan "One, I am skeptical of the effectiveness of nutritional supplements." Michael Shermer Supplementing Our Treatment Plan: We all contribute to this collective knowledge, using various supplements and over-the-counter compounds to manage our Parkinson's. Besides exercise, what other strategies can we …
Continue reading "Update on My Strategy Using Supplements in Treating Parkinson’s"
“I tell everyone: ‘I am not my disease. I am a person with Parkinson’s, and I aim to live life fully.’ For me, it’s all about giving back. How can I leave the world a shade more beautiful?” Barbara Salsberg Mathews “Before, when I was asked about my condition, I would go into defence mode. …
"It never hurts your eyesight to look on the bright side of things." Barbara Johnson "Vision is seeing visibly the light of hope within the range of the eyesight." Anuj Introduction: There is no doubt that with age comes a worsening of vision. Furthermore, there is also an effect on one's eyesight by Parkinson's. Consider …
"Patience and fortitude conquer all things." Ralph Waldo Emerson "I know of no higher fortitude than stubborness in the face of overwhelming odds." Louis Nizer Overview: Recently, I reviewed a clinical trial involving ablation of the globus pallidus by focused ultrasound to treat Parkinson's (click here to read this blog post). Some time ago, I …
"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before." Elizabeth Edwards "Health is wholeness and balance, an inner resilience that allows you to meet the demands of living without being overwhelmed." Andrew Weil Introduction: The goal is to review the role(s) played by dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine (also …
Continue reading "The Complex Role of Neurotransmitters in Parkinson’s"
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin "The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible." Oscar Wilde Introduction: I have been reading and learning about the "normal heart" in Parkinson's, ultimately trying to better understand the autonomic nervous system. While reading, I ran …
Continue reading "Sudden Unexpected Death in Parkinson’s (SUDPAR)"
Journey with Parkinson's 