Month: August 2019

This Week’s Highlights: The PD clinical trial that proves the power of placebo; My God, that’s a lot of basketball; Diagnosing PD by MRI; on-line PD exercise finder/directory; an awkward conversation about PD and male sexual health; and more ...

Please don’t try this first part at home... What if I told you that you could snort saline solution up your nose and it would significantly improve your Parkinson’s disease symptoms? When you inhale the solution, it will work better if you line down, and tilt your head back. Take your time, and release the solution a little bit at a time...at least over 5 minutes, and maybe as many as 10 minutes. And what if I told you that this has already been attempted in a clinical trial, and the improvements measured were clinically significant? There’s only one problem ...

Male sexual health is an awkward topic to discuss, but I feel compelled to share this, because for some people this information may be extremely helpful. One of the most unusual facts that I learned at PD Summer School last week is that men with Parkinson's are sometimes concerned about nocturnal and morning erections. It was explained that these are a normal occurrence, and that there is more cause for concern if you are not experiencing them. What? Well, let's start with why someone might be concerned about this issue in the first place. According to various studies, somewhere between ...

On June, 18, 2019, I spent 21 hours making 3000 3-point baskets to raise money for Parkinson’s Si Buko Uganda, a non-profit creating awareness and serving local community needs. This video provides highlights of the effort. Basketball Therapy & Self-Discovery The words below convey how it feels when I’m playin’ ball.  For me, it’s about love. As life's expanse slowly narrows, I do more of the things I love and less of the things I don’t. Exercising my Love for Playing I love to play; some call this exercise. Exercise must be this, they say. Exercise must be that.  Here are ...

Last week, I spent the week at PD Summer School, a full week of Parkinson’s wellness education. Dr. Laurie Mischley has spent the last 2 decades studying lifestyle and nutrition factors associated with either slower (better) or faster (worse) progression of Parkinson’s disease. The goal is to identify and implement positive deviance strategies that can be used to slow Parkinson’s disease progression ...

This Week’s Highlights: Battling neurotransmitters; Interrupted Sleep - why recent changes in Restless Legs treatment may be relevant for some with PD; acetylcholine’s role in PD symptoms; Why Hope Is Important; PD Summer School; positive deviancy; magic therapy; Judas Priest; research briefs & more ...

If you have Parkinson’s disease and pain or discomfort that interrupts your sleep, then I think I have some fresh insight, and for some, something to discuss with your doctor. (I can’t believe I’m writing an article to explain another article that I wrote, but I’m still processing a lot of this myself.) Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is a horribly misleading term for a condition that is estimated to affect 5% of the U.S. population. The branding, at least for my mind, connotes a playful condition, when it is actually a painful condition at worst and a sleep-depriving condition at ...

Trends in PD research are showing that in addition to Parkinson’s impact on the neurotransmitter dopamine and the dopamingeric system, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the brain’s cholingeric system are also impacted. This post reviews recent research (and some very old research that may need to be revisited), and discusses how two vitamins/supplements (Vitamin B12 and Citicoline/CDP Choline) may impact Parkinson’s disease. This should not be considered medical advice. Always consult your doctors and pharmacist about any vitamins or supplements that you are taking or considering. Related: Exhibit A: Yale Study challenges assumptions about PD and acetylcholine Several weeks ago, a ...

A friend forwarded me a video of an excellent inspirational and entertaining commencement address by legendary college football coach Lou Holtz. On the surface, it has nothing to do with living with Parkinson’s. He does not have PD, and he was addressing newly minted college graduates ready to take on the world. But when he said the following, I felt like he was speaking to me directly, right here and now: You have to have something to hope for, something to dream. And even though you’ve done great things so far, what’s going to happen now? I think the coach’s ...

Restless Legs Syndrome and Parkinson’s disease have interesting dopamine connections. Some Parkinson’s pain may actually be restless legs or arms. Could changes in RLS treatment over the past few years be relevant to getting a good night’s sleep with PD? To those unfamiliar with the condition, the terminology "Restless Legs" makes it difficult to accept as the serious condition that it is. Whenever I hear the term Restless Legs Syndrome, my brain thinks "ants in my pants". I picture myself back in elementary school, being forced to sit at a desk, when I’d rather be running around outside.  That is far from ...

This Week's Highlights: Beer festival therapy; "How Parkinson’s gave me a better long-range jumper, a better baseball throwing arm, and a better outlook on life!"; impulse control disorders; PD and Vitamins B12 & D; into the rabbit hole of vitamins and supplements ...

How Parkinson’s gave me a better long-range jumper, a better baseball throwing arm, and a better outlook on life! I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease over a decade ago. I was 38. Parkinson’s is chronic, degenerative, and without a cure. Yet, over the last several years I’ve steadily improved my basketball and baseball games, deeply learning my capabilities in the process. Oh, and I also found both peace and purpose through Parkinson’s somewhere along the way! Parkinson’s is a neurological condition with full-body consequences. Most people’s Parkinson's troubles are movement-related. Some are most troubled by what’s referred to as non-motor ...

Vitamin D is another nutrient where deficiency and lower levels of the nutrient may be associated with worsening Parkinson’s disease symptoms. It may be a good idea to ask your doctor to include Vitamin D checks to your regular blood tests. A study published in the journal  Acta Neurologica Scandinavia reports that patients with PD had significantly lower Vitamin D levels relative to healthy controls. The study included 182 patients with PD and 185 healthy controls.  Most concerning was that PD patients with lower vitamin D levels had a significantly higher frequency of falls and insomnia. More information: Hui‐Jun Zhang et al, Relationship ...

This Week’s Highlights: Sustainable Exercise for Parkinson's; inhalable levodopa; Virtual Reality for PD Therapy; When grilled cheese attacks; inspiring people with PD; alpha-synuclein & spontaneous origami; PD Exercise news; Dyskinesia predictors; prescription drugs that might decrease or increase PD risk; dopamine and acetylcholine; basal tears vs. skin tests for biomarkers; blue light therapy glasses; PD constipation; and more ...

Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers interesting possibilities for Parkinson's disease therapy. University of Southern California engineers are teaming with researchers and VR game designers to help Parkinson’s patients walk steadily with confidence, creating a VR application called Overcome. Traditional physiotherapy is centered around strength training, stretching, and movement practice, usually in a clinic setting. However, studies have shown that activity performed in the context of the environment, like say, stepping over an obstacle, aids long-term retention in motor skills far more than simply being told to lift one’s foot. This game, in an immersive virtual reality setting, offers the player ...