"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.
"There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere." Isaac Asimov “Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day’s work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your widest ambition.” Sir William Osler Introduction: For the following reasons, I would like to introduce and …
Continue reading "Journey with Parkinson’s: Brief Reports on Current Research/Issues"
"Whenever you are immersed in compulsive thinking, you are avoiding what is. You don't want to be where you are. Here, Now." Eckhart Tolle "Somewhere between obsession and compulsion is impulse." Alexander Pushkin Introduction: In the latest issue of Neurology (June, 2018), Dr. Corvol and collaborators in Paris, France, present the results of a long-term …
Continue reading "Dopamine Agonists and Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson’s"
"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow." Orison Swett Marden "Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible." Helen Keller Introduction: Many of us take levodopa/carbidopa for substantial symptomatic relief; however, this dopamine replacement treatment only relieves symptoms without …
Continue reading "Neuroprotection with Taurine in a Parkinson’s Model System"
"Some remedies are worse than the disease." Publilius Syrus "Each patient carries his own doctor inside him." Norman Cousins Summary: Dopamine agonists are widely used in the treatment of Parkinson's, especially as a first-line therapy. Some patients on a dopamine agonist experience side-effects that require either tapering or discontinuation of the drug. First described in …
Continue reading "Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS) in Parkinson’s"
"Nothing will work unless you do." Maya Angelou "The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today." Elbert Hubbard Précis: Over the past eight weeks, some loyal readers and several friends have asked me: "Is everything okay?"; "Has my health taken a downturn?"; "Have you stopped writing your blog?"; "I have …
Continue reading "7 Tips and Healthy Habits for Working with Parkinson’s"
"The excitement of vitamins, nutrition and metabolism permeated the environment." Paul D. Boyer "A substance that makes you ill if you don't eat it." Albert Szent-Gyorgy Introduction: Claire McLean, an amazing-PT who is vital to my life managing my Parkinson's, posted a very interesting article about the generation of homocysteine from the metabolism of levodopa …
"Once you choose hope, anything's possible." Christopher Reeve "Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence." Lin Yutang Introduction: N-Acetyl-Cysteine (or N-acetylcysteine, usually abbreviated NAC and frequently pronounced like the word 'knack') is an altered (modified by an …
Continue reading "The Yack on NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine) and Parkinson’s"
"You can have a very bad end with Parkinson's, but on the other hand, you can be like me, because I'm lucky. I'm not having a bad end." Margo MacDonald "My age makes me think how valuable life is. How bad is something like Parkinson's in relation to not having life at all?" Michael J. …
Continue reading "Parkinson’s Disease Research: A Commentary from the Stands and the Playing Field"
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" George Carlin "If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend." Doug Larson The Dilemma: At some age in our life, maybe, …
Continue reading "Driving Under the Influence of Parkinson’s"
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” Ernest Hemingway “To perceive is to suffer.” Aristotle Introduction: The loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the mid-brain leads to Parkinson's disease, which usually presents with motor dysfunction of different degrees of progression from person-to-person. This post explores the differences between empathy and sympathy, and describes a …
Journey with Parkinson's 