"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.
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." John Wooden "To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise." Gene Tunney Précis: For Parkinson's Awareness Month, let's begin with an important reminder/statement that "Exercise is medicine for Parkinson's disease." Coming soon in a future blog post I will review …
"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow." Orison Swett Marden "Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible." Helen Keller Introduction: Many of us take levodopa/carbidopa for substantial symptomatic relief; however, this dopamine replacement treatment only relieves symptoms without …
Continue reading "Neuroprotection with Taurine in a Parkinson’s Model System"
"I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life." Louise Hay "Avoiding problems you need to face is avoiding the life you need to live." Paulo Coelho Try to live following the advice of the opening quotes: Today, renew your lease for the rest of your life, and enjoy it …
"Some remedies are worse than the disease." Publilius Syrus "Each patient carries his own doctor inside him." Norman Cousins Summary: Dopamine agonists are widely used in the treatment of Parkinson's, especially as a first-line therapy. Some patients on a dopamine agonist experience side-effects that require either tapering or discontinuation of the drug. First described in …
Continue reading "Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS) in Parkinson’s"
With Parkinson’s, exercise is better than taking a bottle of pills. If you don’t do anything you’ll just stagnate.” Brian Lambert “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 Introduction: Having one of the numerous neurodegenerative disorders …
"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"
“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 …
“Give your life a destination.” Debasish Mridha "We're all a beautiful, wonderful work in progress....Embrace the process!” Nanette Mathews Précis: This post is a review of my public journey and life-steps with Parkinson's in the 2nd year of the blog: i) rationale for the blog; ii) quotes/highlights from selected posts between March 2016-March 2017; iii) …
"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"
