"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.
“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)"
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” Oscar Wilde “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Eleanor Roosevelt Life lessons. Life is a series of lessons we gather …
“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 …
"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"
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.” Paulo Coelho "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained." …
Continue reading "Life Happens: Believe, Accept, and Understand"
“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"
"In all things it is better to hope than to despair." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe What we know matters but who we are matters more.” Brené Brown A beginning: A common theme throughout this blog has been the inclusion of quotes to accompany my comments. Searching and vetting these words are important to me, and …
“Integrity has no need of rules.” Albert Camus “You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” C.G. Jung “Do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” Gregg Harris USAF (United States Air Force) Core Values and Growing Up: "Integrity, service and excellence." These three words represent the core values of the USAF, which reminds me …
“I often say now I don’t have any choice whether or not I have Parkinson’s, but surrounding that non-choice is a million other choices that I can make.” Michael J. Fox “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” Brené Brown …
Continue reading "Hope, Courage, Persistence, Positivity, Mindfulness, And The Journey"
"It's very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems." Thich Nhat Hanh Part 1, Sleep and Parkinson's: Although it's a …
Journey with Parkinson's 