"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.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller Précis: Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are using an innovative approach to treat Parkinson's in …
Continue reading "Neuroprotection by Modified-Macrophages in a Parkinson’s Model System"
“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” Carlos Castenada “Don’t be ashamed of your story, it will inspire others.” Unknown Background story: Over the years, my research career has been supported by various non-Federal organizations, in particular the American Heart Association (AHA) and Susan G. …
Continue reading "Moving Day® was a Morning to Move for Parkinson’s and a Time to be Moved"
“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.” Yoko Ono “Embrace aging.” Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie Précis: The great majority of individuals with Parkinson's reveal no genetic mutations, no past history of head injury, …
Continue reading "Science of Advanced Age as a Risk Factor for Parkinson’s"
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” Robin Williams Hiding behind the initial diagnosis: When I was diagnosed with Parkinson's 18 months ago, I told my immediate family, a few close friends, and some key people in my research group. Receiving news that you have a progressive neurodegenerative disorder strikes …
Continue reading "Parkinson’s and Dementia: Remembering Robin Williams (1951-2014)"
“Choosing one path means abandoning others – if you try to follow every possible path you will end up following none.” Paulo Coelho "An awareness of one's mortality can lead you to wake up and live an authentic, meaningful life." Bernie Siegel A beginning: ~7 people/hour are diagnosed with Parkinson's in the USA; resulting in …
"One of the most fascinating things about golf is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot - the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something." Peter Jacobsen Précis: The goals are to describe the overall benefits …
"Life has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.” Paulo Coelho Précis: To briefly describe the biochemistry of dopamine and dopamine receptors, dopamine physiology, and therapeutic strategies for replacing dopamine in Parkinson's. But first, some "Purple Haze" by the Jimi …
Continue reading "Purple Haze of Parkinson’s: How Dopamine Works"
“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss “May you live every day of your life.” Jonathan Swift Pros and cons to donating your body to medical science: Likely you've heard about it, maybe you've even thought about it, donating your body to medical science? It is a generous and altruistic decision …
Continue reading "The Generosity of Donating Your Body to Medical Science"
“When prescribing one of the drugs I take, my doctor warned me of a common side effect: exaggerated, intensely vivid dreams. To be honest, I've never really noticed the difference. I've always dreamt big.” Michael J. Fox Parkinson's description: About 60,000 new Parkinson's cases will be diagnosed this year in the USA; joining the 1 …
Continue reading "Anti-malaria Drugs Target Nurr1 For Possible Parkinson’s Therapeutics"
"The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor and style." Maya Angelou "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." C.S. Lewis Précis: The goal is to present a brief synopsis of some of the neurodegenerative disorders, that is the easy part. The hard part is …
Journey with Parkinson's 