"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.
"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"
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust "The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder." Albert Einstein Preface: Happy birthday to James Parkinson (neurologist, geologist, scientist, activist), born April 11, 1755 and died December 21, 1824. World Parkinson's Day …
Continue reading "Milestones in Parkinson’s Disease Research and Discovery"
"I have a form of Parkinson's disease, which I don't like. My legs don't move when my brain tells them to. It's very frustrating." George H.W. Bush "I discovered that I was part of a Parkinson's community with similar experiences and similar questions that I'd been dealing with alone." Michael J. Fox Summary: Two hundred …
Continue reading "200 Years Ago James Parkinson published “An Essay On The Shaking Palsy”"
"A willing mind makes a hard journey easy." Philip Massinger "Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being." Plato Introduction: Much of my life has been spent exercising. Most of this exercise has been done with sheer delight. Since receiving my Parkinson's diagnosis, my opinion of exercise has changed. With Parkinson's, I'm now …
Continue reading "9 Things to Know About Exercise-induced Neuroplasticity in Human Parkinson’s"
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Carl Sagan "A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." Colin Powell Introduction/Background: Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement. It evolves slowly, usually starting as either stiffness in a hand or a small tremor. Over time, Parkinson’s progresses; …
“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"
