"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.
“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 …
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 “Perhaps I am stronger than I think.” Thomas Merton Précis: A brief overview about Parkinson's disease, highlights from our Moving Day NC Triangle Planning Committee during "Parkinson's Disease Awareness …
Continue reading "Parkinson’s Awareness Month: Greetings from North Carolina, USA"
"My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging." Hank Aaron "Nothing worth having comes easy." Theodore Roosevelt Introduction: Several years ago, the Veterans Health Administration produced videos to educate/inform our veterans about Parkinson's …
Continue reading "Parkinson’s Awareness Month: Veterans Health Administration PD Video Series"
"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"
"Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it." Irving Berlin "My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength." Michael Jordan Précis: (1) A brief review of the major classes of …
"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”"
"I owe my life to blood donors. I'm forever grateful to people who donate." Niki Taylor "We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language." Joyce Carol Oates Synopsis: Could either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's be communicable diseases from human blood products? A recent study shows there is no evidence for these neurodegenerative disorders …
"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"
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." Abraham Lincoln "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson Along the way to the diagnosis of Parkinson’s, you may have to undergo several different kinds …
Continue reading "Part 2: Journey to Parkinson’s and Magnetic Resonance Imaging"
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” Albert Einstein “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” Isaac Asimov Summary: (Part 1) …
Journey with Parkinson's 