What helps you to live well with Parkinson’s Disease?

On March 14, 2019March 16, 2019 By skrischerIn Living Well, Parkinsons Disease, Research & Clinical StudiesLeave a comment

You must do the things you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Since March is Women’s History Month, I will be including some quotes from some amazing women who have made a difference. Look for more scattered throughout the blog posts this month.

And speaking of women, I submitted an abstract to the World Parkinson’s Congress about a survey that I posted on a women’s Parkinson’s Disease Facebook group. My abstract was accepted and I will be showing the results on a poster in the Poster Display during the conference.

As a blogger who writes about living well with Parkinson’s, and having been a co-lead on the Parkinson’s Foundation’s groundbreaking study on women with PD last year, Women & PD TALK*, I was curious about what other women with Parkinson’s think contributes to their continuing to live well with Parkinson’s.

I asked the following questions in November, 2018.

Please list the top 3 things that help YOU to live well with Parkinson’s. Then the flip side – the top 3 things that are obstacles for you:
For example:
Positive: Exercise, Advocating for myself with my doctors, Friendships with other women with PD.
Negative: Poor sleep, Tremor gets in the way of doing things, Daytime fatigue

I now want to open the survey to anyone who is interested in participating. The difference is that this time I am asking you to choose 3 things from the list of the most common responses that I received last time. And of course, there will be room for additional comments at the end.

This survey will self destruct, in about 10 days so that I will have time to look at the results and write a summary and create a poster for the WPC which starts on June 4. Being the Parkie that I am, I need the pressure to get this done. So please respond quickly so that I don’t have to scramble like Cinderella to get to the ball!

Be kind, have courage and always believe in a little magic.
― Cinderella

And the survey says……..click here to participate

Watch for the Women & PD TALK outcomes here in the next few weeks!

Is There a Coming Pandemic of Parkinson’s?

On February 7, 2019 By skrischerIn Education & Advocacy, Parkinsons Disease, Research & Clinical StudiesLeave a comment

pan·dem·ic\/panˈdemik/ adjective: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population “The 1918 flu was pandemic and claimed millions of lives.” noun: an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population: “a pandemic outbreak of a disease”

The alarm that there could be a “pandemic” of PD was sounded last week in a report in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, “The Emerging Evidence of the Parkinson Pandemic” by E. Ray Dorsey, Todd Sherer, Michael S. Okun and Bastiaan R. Bloem. (Mr. Twitchy, always on the lookout for Parkinson’s news, ran across the study today and sent me several articles today based on this report.)

The authors* are all highly respected researchers in the Parkinson’s world. They have been following the growth of Parkinson’s Disease since 1990. From 1990 – 2014, the number of people with Parkinson’s Disease worldwide doubled to over 6 million. The authors predict that those numbers will double again to 12 million by 2040, They say that “The Parkinson pandemic is fueled by aging populations, increasing longevity, declining smoking rates, and the by-products of industrialization.”

Yes, the population is aging. Life expectancy has increased by 6 years in the last 2 decades and will most likely continue to increase, putting more people at risk for PD after age 65. The impact on our health system and support systems will be enormous as the number of people with advanced PD increases.

Declining smoking rates??? Many studies over the years have shown that smoking decreases the risk of PD by about 40%. As smoking rates decline, there could be an increase in PD. However, if you are not a smoker, please don’t consider starting just to reduce your PD risk.

The “by-products of industrialization” include pesticides, solvents and heavy metals. However, they emphasize that exposure to these agents is preventable in the workplace. The big question is, how many employers will take the necessary steps to protect their workers from being exposed. This is definitely a cause of PD that can be reduced.

But the news is by no means all doom and gloom. Quite to the contrary. According to two articles, one from Science Alert and another from Eureka Alert, researchers are getting closer to finding what actually causes Parkinson’s, and many new treatments for PD are being approved every year. We may not have a cure for a while, but we are getting closer to slowing down the progression of PD to make our lives much better.

Against that background, the Dr. Dorsey proposed that the Parkinson’s community form a “PACT” to Prevent, Advocate for, Care, and Treat the disease through understanding the root causes (environmental, genetic, and biological), expanding new care models that seek to bring expert care to all, and developing new highly effective therapies. They point out that, the most effective therapy we have today (levodopa) is now fifty years old. It is time for something new. Now.

Pandemics in the past, such as — polio, breast cancer and HIV are a fewe recent examples — have been reduced successfully and substantially because of activism coming from the community. We can both prevent potential the PD pandemic and help those who already have it by supporting research, participating in clinical trials for new treatments, and raising awareness about Parkinson’s. The key, the authors say, is that we all work together to accomplish this goal.

*E. Ray Dorsey, Department of Neurology and Center for Health+Technology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA. Todd Sherer, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, New York, NY, USA. Michael S. Okun, Fixel Center for Neurological Diseases, Program for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. Bastiaan R. Bloem, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Neurology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Can You Live Well With PD?

On December 10, 2018December 11, 2018 By skrischerIn Exercise, Inspiration, Living Well, Research & Clinical StudiesLeave a comment

With the World Parkinson’s Congress coming up in June, I have been considering submitting an abstract for the Poster Display at the Congress. One of the categories for submission is “Living Well With Parkinson’s Disease”. I started thinking about what works for me to live well with PD, and then decided to ask the 950+ members of a Women with PD Facebook group that I participate in, what works for them. On line, we often discuss different symptoms, medications, responses to medications, etc. But the women in this group also like to talk about the positive things in their lives.

In one long term study, Complementary & Alternative Medicine Care in Parkinson’s Disease, (CAM Care in PD), Dr. Laurie Mischley, of Bastyr University, is looking at people who are living well with PD with the hope of finding dietary and lifestyle factors associated with a slower disease progression. The twice annual survey asks about your diet, exercise, medications, alternative treatments, etc. If you are not familiar with her work, click on the link above to find out more about it and to sign up for her study.

I decided to take a slightly different angle and ask the women what THEY think helps them to live well with Parkinson’s. So I posted the following to the FB group in November:

Please list the top 3 things that help YOU to live well with Parkinson’s. Then the flip side – the top 3 things that are obstacles for you:
For example:
Positive: Exercise, Advocating for myself with my doctors, Friendships with other women with PD.
Negative: Poor sleep, Tremor gets in the way of doing things, Daytime fatigue

This is by no means a scientific study. As a blogger, I like to poll my readers occasionally on a topic that interests me. I look for trends in order to write about a topic. For this poll, I have about 60 responses so far,and it became clear very quickly that Exercise in any form is the most positive factor for living well. Friendships with other women with PD is also very important to them. Having friends with PD means that they have someone who knows how they are feeling and understands what they are going through. Interestingly, Family-including a supportive spouse- and Faith were tied for third.

On the negative side, Sleep problems, including insomnia, fatigue and more, was the overwhelming winner. Balance and Gait problems were second and Anxiety was third.

The one thing that was missing is “Staying Active”. Only a few people mentioned anything related to this. I realized that it was an important missing piece when I read Blogger Sherri Woodbridge’s Nov. 28 post in Parkinson’s News Today

She says: Being active involves more than movement on your part. It includes a state of mind to persevere, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and to not give up even when you feel like quitting.

I could not say it better than this, and yes, this is the one thing that keeps me going. Since my husband retired 7 years ago, we have traveled extensively around the world. We go to the symphony, theater and sporting events, often with friends. We are active in our community and spend time with our children and grandchildren. And we both find time to exercise almost daily. He plays golf, I still play tennis. Sitting home and doing nothing is not an option for us. As a result, I do not feel the isolation and depression that plague many people with PD. I also feel good physically most of the time. My biggest problem is the fatigue from poor sleep. But I don’t let that stop me. I have learned my limits and will rest when I need to, especially when traveling. 10 years after my diagnosis, my progression is still slow and I have not had to change my lifestyle very much.

We are fortunate that today that our doctors encourage exercise and being active, something that Parkinson’s people were discouraged from doing in the not too distant past. For many of us, living an active life and exercise are the most important things that will make our lives better with PD. Even if you have limited mobility, try to get out and and do things, even if it is just going to a movie. You will find that the more you go out and do things you enjoy, the better you will feel.

If you would like to participate in my informal survey, please send an email to me at twitchywoman18@gmail.com. This is for all people with Parkinson’s only. No caregivers, please.

How Are Women with Parkinson’s Different than Men?

On November 2, 2018November 7, 2018 By skrischerIn Education & Advocacy, Inspiration, Living Well, Parkinsons Disease, Research & Clinical Studies1 Comment

What image comes to mind when you hear someone has Parkinson’s Disease? I am sure it is not what you would have seen in Houston at the Women and PD TALK National Forum last week.

In a little over 2 years from concept to fruition, the Parkinson’s Foundation’s Women and PD TALK initiative held 10 regional Forums in the past year, and a final National Forum in Houston last week. Three years ago, at the Parkinsons Disease Foundation’s (now Parkinsons Foundation) Women & PD Initiative conference that I was privileged to attend, one of the key take-aways was that there are disparities in research and care between women and men with PD. To date, there had not been any studies to look seriously at these disparities and we wanted to know what could be done to improve the care and treatment of women with PD. A year later, Ronnie Todaro, VP at the Foundation who had led the Women & PD Initiative, applied for a PCORI (Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute) grant to help fund Women & PD TALK.

Because the grant required patient involvement, I was honored to be named a co-lead on the project, along with Dr. Allison Willis, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. We worked with Megan Feeney, M.P.H.
Manager, Community Engagement at the Parkinson’s Foundation to put everything in place for this initiative.

There were 10 regional forums, with sites chosen to represent large urban areas as well as more rural areas. Each forum leadership team included a Woman with Parkinson’s, a Movement Disorders Specialist or Neurologist and an Allied Health Professional. About 40 participants, both women with PD and Health Professionals attended each of the full day events. Breakout groups at the forums gave valuable information on Risk, Symptoms, Treatment and Care.

50 people, about a third of them women with Parkinson’s Disease, gathered in Houston at the National Forum to go over the findings from the 10 forums and begin to set some goals and create recommendations and action plans. There is too much to report here now, but there will be some specific recommendations to improve the care and treatment of women with Parkinson’s in the final report.

Meeting with such strong women, both people with Parkinson’s and health professionals, makes me proud to be a part of the PD community and inspires and empowers me to do more. Kelly W

What was most interesting to me is that while there are definitely differences in symptoms and reactions to medications, many of the disparities were more cultural and social. Just a few examples:

There are a significant number of women with PD who are caregivers, taking care of children, elderly parents or sick spouses and there is no one to take care of them.
Women tend to go to their doctor’s appointments alone, while men do not. In fact, women go alone to most things related to PD.
Women do not go to support groups as often as men. Some reported that when they went, they were asked who they were taking care of. No one believed that they were the one with PD.
Being treated dismissively by doctors. Told it was all in their heads, and in many cases, especially for younger women, it was because of hormones.
Women need to connect to other women with Parkinson’s. There was a lot of talk about the need for mentors to be paired with the newly diagnosed, to make the disease less frightening and be there for them when needed.
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!!!! We can’t say it enough.
And finally, can we get rid of that awful caricature of a man hunched over with PD and replace it with the photo above of 11 amazing women with Parkinson’s?

Thank you Ronnie, Megan and Dr. Allison for giving me the opportunity to be an integral part of this team.

A full report will be issued, with specific recommendations and strategies to improve the lives of women with Parkinson’s Disease, sometime in the spring of 2019. I am looking forward to sharing it with you. In the meantime, click here for the link for the press release about Women and PD TALK.

Parkinson’s Target Practice and other Things

On August 22, 2018 By skrischerIn Drugs & Treatment, Living Well, Parkinsons Disease, Research & Clinical Studies3 Comments

Sometimes it seems like Parkinson’s Research is a bit like Target Practice. If you try to come at it from a lot of different angles, eventually something is going to hit the bullseye. It is almost impossible to keep up with all of the different research projects looking for a cure or even just a way to slow down and stop the progression of PD.

Some examples from this past week alone include fish that sense magnetic fields, effect of different frequencies of DBS on gait, and chaperone proteins. Huh? Someone please interpret!!!!

This study from Michigan State University (MSU) : A fish that can sense the Earth’s magnetic field while it swims could help scientists understand how the human brain works and eventually unlock strategies to help control movement impairments in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders, a study reports.
Low-frequency subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), but not high-frequency STN-DBS, reduces freezing of gait in Parkinson’s patients while preserving their ability to simultaneously process motor and cognitive information, a recent study shows. The study, “Decreasing subthalamic deep brain stimulation frequency reverses cognitive interference during gait initiation in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the journal Clinical Neurosphysiology.
Low levels of a specific chaperone protein might be implicated in the development of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to new research at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Researchers investigated the role of a protein called 14-3-3θ — a type of protein that can assist other proteins to assume a proper shape. “The study suggests that 14-3-3θ may be a suitable target for efforts to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, although more work is needed,” according to Talene Yacoubian, an MD and PhD, associate professor in the Department of Neurology at UAB.

Other interesting stuff:

I just finished listening to
Perseverance: The Seven Skills You Need to Survive, Thrive, and Accomplish More Than You Ever Imagined
by fellow WPC blogger Tim Hague. He tells his fascinating story of growing up as a bi-racial child in a large, warm adoptive family, his Parkinson’s disease, how he and his son, Tim, Jr. got into The Amazing Race Canada (Season 1) and finished in first place, and more. I really enjoyed the book and finally met Tim last week at the Davis Phinney Victory Summit in LA. Well done, Tim!
And in the “what was I thinking department“, Mr. Twitchy and I went to the Fox Foundation’s Parkour 4 Parkinson’s event in LA a few weeks ago. I am not sure what got into me, but I had to try the course. According to PD Ninja, Jimmy Choi, there were only 4-5 of us Parkies there who actually tried it. Mostly it was agile kids and teenagers having a great time. (watch for the young girl behind me on the ropes). I should have known better, but once I was there, any brain cells that I still have left apparently forgot that I am not in Middle School. Here is the video that Mr. Twitchy took of my attempt at being a Ninja Warrior!