Robert Sapolsky

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 ...

I'll admit it's an odd question to ask, "Can the action of volunteering and fund raising for PD research improve your Parkinson's symptoms today?" However, I believe that there is an interesting argument for how the action of volunteering and fund raising for PD research not only helps enable research that will benefit Parkinson's patients in the future, but can also improve your Parkinson's symptoms today. Let's call this the unexpected placebo effect of volunteerism ...