"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 starting point of all achievement is desire." Napoleon Hill "We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." Ronald Reagan The Journey With Parkinson's returns: The past 2 months have just consumed every waking moment of my time/life, and then some. I have a back-log of >20 blog posts in some finished-form-or-another. Starting this …
"In giving advice I advise you, be short." Horace "The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination." Dan Millman Introduction: Last month, I presented the Whitehead Lecture to the UNC School of Medicine (SOM). Here is what that means: "The annual Whitehead Lecture serves as an unofficial convocation for the School of Medicine. …
Continue reading "2016 Whitehead Lecture: Advice, Life Stories and the Journey with Parkinson’s"
“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” Betty Friedane “If we own the story then we can write the ending.” Brené Brown Précis: To showcase the amazing art/photography/videography of Anders M. Leines who lives in Norway, which gives me the opportunity to voice an opinion about the emerging picture/image …
“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"
"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"
“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.” Paulo Coelho What causes …
Continue reading "Immune System and Parkinson’s (Part 1): The Brain and Immune System are Connected"
"The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.” Paul A.M. Dirac Start of the story: Anyone with Parkinson's is hopeful for a cure in the future. Yet, there is much we still do not understand about this neurodegenerative disorder. Scientists and physicians …
Journey with Parkinson's 