"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.
“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” Louis Sachar "We are human. We are not perfect. We are alive. We try things. We make mistakes. We stumble. We fall. We get hurt. We rise again. We try again. We …
Continue reading "Chapter 7: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Persistence"
”Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban "You can not have a positive life and a negative mind." Joyce Meyer Introduction: In 2015, I posted a blog entitled "Words Worth Living" (to read …
Continue reading "Chapter 5: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Positivity"
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” C.S. Lewis "Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging." Joseph Campbell Précis: The students from my undergraduate course, “Biology of Blood Diseases”, submitted quotes about these words: hope, courage, journey, persistence, positivity, strength, adversity, mindfulness, and life (for further details …
Continue reading "Chapter 4: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Adversity"
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." Arnold Schwarzenegger "When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or let it strengthen you." Dr. Seuss Introduction: The 62 …
Continue reading "Chapter 3: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Strength"
"Life's a dance, you learn as you go. Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow. Don't worry about what you don't know, life's a dance, you learn as you go." John Michael Montgomery "Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." Omar Khayyam Précis: "Thought-filled Responses" is a part of my undergraduate course, "Biology …
Continue reading "Chapter 2: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Life"
Preface: A Parkinson's Reading Companion “You may not control life's circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life means getting to control what you do with them.” Atul Gawande* “On every journey you take, you face choices. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. And it is those decisions that …
Continue reading "Chapter 1: A Parkinson’s Reading Companion on Hope"
“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.” Winston S. Churchill “...remember that what has once been done may be done again.” Alexandre Dumas Introducing the terms: Déjà vu: "A feeling of having already experienced the present situation." (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/) Neuroplasticity: "The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming …
Continue reading "Déjà Vu and Neuroplasticity in Parkinson’s"
“Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” Will Duran “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'” Isaac Asimov Introduction: The goal of this post is to highlight several experimental model systems that have effectively been used in Parkinson's research. We have …
Continue reading "Importance of Model Systems in Parkinson’s Research"
“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"
“With Parkinson’s you have two choices: You can let it control you, or you can control it. And I’ve chosen to control it.” US Senator Isakson “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” Albert Einstein Introduction: In my academic career to-date, my research group and I …
Continue reading "Potential New Parkinson’s Drug Highlight: the Leukemia Drug Nilotinib"
Journey with Parkinson's 